The BBC yesterday defended its decision to broadcast a documentary examining the case for freedom launched by the Moors murderer, Myra Hindley, Rachel Donnelly reports.
In the documentary Hindley claims she applied to join the police force in an attempt to escape her accomplice, Ian Brady.
The director of television at the BBC, Mr Alan Yentob, said the Modern Times documentary, which will be shown tomorrow, was an important film "which we hope will contribute to and help inform the debate over whether life really should mean life". He said it was the third time since Hindley and Brady were sentenced to life in 1966 that the BBC had tackled the subject.
The programme will examine some of the 150 letters Hindley has written about her involvement with Brady in the murders of Lesley-Anne Downey (10) and John Kilbride (12). She was also found guilty of being an accessory in the murder of Edward Evans (17) and in 1987 she and Brady confessed to the murder of Pauline Reade (16) and Keith Bennett (12).
In one letter, Hindley said she had fallen in love with a policeman called Norman and, in an attempt to escape Brady after the first murder, she visited a police training centre where she claimed she was considered suitable for training during an interview. Hindley also tried to join the British Army to escape Brady in the early days of their relationship.