Ann West: Difference between revisions

'''Gertrude Ann West'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/all/results?recordCount=-1&forenames=Ann&includeForenamesVariants=true&_includeForenamesVariants=on&surname=West&_includeSurnameVariants=on&fromYear=1999&toYear=1999&region=5&county=81&dobYear=&dobYearTolerance=0&sortOrder=RK%3Atrue&_performExactSearch=on&event=D&recordType=ALL&route= |title=Search general register office (GRO)death records 1796-2006 &#124; Fully indexed death records |publisher=Findmypast.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> (11 September 1929 - 9 February 1999)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14335136 |title=Ann West (1929 - 1999) - Find A Grave Memorial |publisher=Findagrave.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> was a [[United Kingdom|British]] media campaigner.<ref name="autogenerated1999">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/276809.stm |title=UK &#124; Moors murder mother was 'incredible' |publisher=BBC News |date=1999-02-10 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

Her daughter, Lesley Ann Downey, was the youngest of the five [[Moors Murders]] victims. On 26 December 1964, aged 10, Lesley was lured away by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley from a fairground near her home in [[Ancoats]], [[Manchester]], and subjected to sexual abuse and torture before being killed at Brady and Hindley's house in [[Hattersley]]. Her body was buried on [[Saddleworth Moor]] and police were led to her grave in October 1965 when they arrested Brady and Hindley for the murder of 17-year-old Edward Evans and found evidence which led to the grave of Lesley as well as that of another missing child, John Kilbride. As part of the subsequent prosecution against Brady and Hindley, the police on the investigation asked Ann West to identify her daughter's voice from a tape recording that the pair had made of her being attacked, and from indecent photographs that Brady had taken during the attack.<ref>{{cite web|last=Steel |first=Fiona |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/moors/index_1.html |title=Murder on the Moors: The Ian Brady and Myra Hindley Story — Witness To Murder — Crime Library on |publisher=Trutv.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

Brady and Hindley were found guilty of Lesley's murder, along with that of Edward Evans, at [[Chester]] [[Crown Court]] on 6 May 1966 and sentenced to [[Life imprisonment|life imprisonment]]. Brady was also found guilty of murdering John Kilbride.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2512000/2512119.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY &#124; 6 &#124; 1966: Moors murderers jailed for life |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-11-15 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> In 1986, they confessed to murdering two other missing children, Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett, but were never charged with either of these murders,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_2551000/2551029.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY &#124; 20 &#124; 1986: Police renew hunt for Moors victims |publisher=BBC News |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> although they managed to locate the body of Pauline Reade during 1987. The body of Keith Bennett has still yet to be found.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/2/newsid_2491000/2491503.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY &#124; 2 &#124; 1987: Brady to help search for Moors victims |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-11-15 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

By 1977, penal reformer [[Lord Longford]] was at the centre of a campaign for the [[Parole|parole]] of Myra Hindley, who by this stage had served more than a decade in prison. On 6 July that year, the first episode of the [[BBC]] series ''Brass Tacks'' featured a debate on whether Hindley should be considered for release from prison. Lord Longford was the most prominent figure on the side arguing for Hindley's parole, while Ann West appeared on the side arguing against any suggestion of release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tachyon-tv.co.uk/2011/07/the-trueman-show/ |title=Tachyon TV – The Trueman Show |publisher=Tachyon-tv.co.uk |date=1977-07-06 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> In this program, Ann West vowed to kill Myra Hindley if she was ever set free, and later collected signature for a petition to the [[Home Secretary]] at the time for Hindley to remain in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_24_11_97.txt |title=Panorama: Myra Hindley Debate |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> She repeated this threat on an [[ITN]] news bulletin in March 1985, when it was reported that Hindley's case was to be reviewed by the [[Parole Board]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist/ITN/1985/03/01/AS010385008/?s=Lesley+Ann+Downey&st=0&pn=1 |title=Moors Murderers |publisher=ITN Source |date=1985-03-01 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

West's campaign against the release of Myra Hindley from prison won her substantial public support and was also backed by the relatives of other Moors Murders victims, including John Kilbride's brother Danny.<ref name="autogenerated1999"/>

 

In 1990, the [[Home Office]] ruled that [[Whole life tariff|life must mean life]] for Myra Hindley and she should never be released from prison; following previous decisions that she should serve a minimum of 25 years before being considered for parole, before that minimum term was increased to 30 years. Hindley was informed of the decision in December 1994, but vowed to challenge the ruling in court.<ref>{{cite news|author=Steve Boggan |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/myra-hindley-vows-to-fight-for-her-freedom-1387693.html |title=Myra Hindley vows to fight for her freedom - UK - News |publisher=The Independent |date=1994-12-17 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

In March 1996, Hindley claimed in an [[Oxford University]] magazine that she was still in prison so that the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] government could win votes and be seen as being tough on crime, and that she had qualified for parole as she was rehabilitated and had ceased to pose a threat. Ann West hit back by telling the ''[[Daily Record]]'' that [[Home Secretary]] [[Michael Howard]] was "keeping her in for murdering four children", and once again repeated her threat to kill Hindley if she was released.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hindley+votes+claim+lashed.-a061278583 |title=Hindley votes claim lashed. - Free Online Library |publisher=Thefreelibrary.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

Lord Longford remained at the centre of the campaign for Myra Hindley to be given parole, and met Ann West on a number of occasions. He regularly condemned the media for their "exploitation" of her, and in 1986 he reportedly warned West that unless she forgave Hindley and Brady, she would not go to heaven when she died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Why+Myra+must+never+be+freed%3b+Scots+detective+who+arrested+evil...-a060991128 |title=Why Myra must never be freed; Scots detective who arrested evil Hindley ends 30-year silence. - Free Online Library |publisher=Thefreelibrary.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>

 

Ann West died in February 1999, aged 69, after a long battle against cancer.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/277440.stm |title=UK &#124; Last wish of Moors murder mother |publisher=BBC News |date=1999-02-11 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> She had been determined to outlive Myra Hindley, and although Hindley did outlive her, she died in November 2002 having never succeeded in her bid to win release from prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2481193.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; Moors murderer Hindley dies |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-11-16 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> Ian Brady is still living.

 

Ann West was outlived by her second husband Alan, and her three sons from her first marriage. However, nearly three years after her death, another tragedy struck the family when her 45-year-old son Tommy and seven-year-old grand-daughter Kimberley were killed in a fire at the house in [[Fallowfield]] in which her husband Alan still lived; he was not in the house at the time.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1736072.stm |title=ENGLAND &#124; Fire kills brother of Moors Murder victim |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-01-01 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref> A 41-year-old woman was later found guilty on manslaughter charges relating to the fire and jailed for 18 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2385773.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; Fatal arson attack woman jailed |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-11-01 |accessdate=2012-05-13}}</ref>