Child’s ‘friendship’ with Moors Murderers revealed

THE testimony of a 12-year-old schoolgirl who escaped the clutches of the Moors Murderers has been published for the first time.

Patricia Ann Hodges was plied with drink by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady and taken on country walks where at least three of their victims were buried.

Her witness statement, and a photo of her on a sofa next to Hindley, are among files released by the British National Archives under Britain’s Freedom of Information Act.

The documents reveal how she was taken by the pair for walks in the moors near Manchester.

Alan West, aged 67, the father of one of their victims, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, told The Daily Telegraph: “Little Pat Hodges was amazingly lucky. Why Brady didn’t kill her, only he knows.”

Hindley and Brady, who were lovers, were jailed after killing four children and a youth in the mid-1960s.

Lesley Ann and 12-year-old John Kilbride were sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered and buried on Saddleworth Moor.

Hindley and Brady were convicted of killing Lesley Ann and Edward Evans, aged 17, later confessing to the murders of Pauline Reade, aged 16, and Keith Bennett, aged 12.

Brady was also convicted of John Kilbride’s murder but Hindley was acquitted.

The newly-released files include photographs of the killers, including holiday snaps, and others on the moors. There are also full transcripts of evidence, only part of which was given at their trial in 1966.

In her witness statement Patricia described being befriended by the couple when she moved in two doors from the house they shared with Hindley’s grandmother in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

“I used to go to the house very regularly after I got to know them, I have had wine there ... I would have about four glasses of wine.

“On two occasions I went for walks on the moor with Ian and Myra.”

The testimony apparently showed they walked close to the rocks where Lesley Ann’s body was found.

In her statement Patricia also told how, then aged 11, she went out with Hindley to the moors at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve, 1964.

She had been drinking whisky, gin and wine.

Hindley suggested spending the night on the moor but took Patricia home at 1.30am on Christmas Day.

The next day, St Stephen’s Day, Lesley Ann Downey was abducted.

When Hindley confessed to police, she insisted the friendship with “Patty” was innocent.

Other evidence will not be released until 2067 as it may upset victims’ families.

The files also include copies of Brady’s notebooks. “Rape is not a crime, it’s a state of mind. Murder is a hobby and a supreme pleasure,” he wrote.

Hindley died in prison three years ago at age 60. Brady, aged 67, remains in a mental institution.