Moors Murderer Brady remains 'acutely unwell' in hospital

Moors Murderer Ian Brady remains "acutely unwell" after spending a second night in hospital following a seizure, health officials have said.

He was kept in Fazakerley Hospital, Merseyside, after tests, and is being guarded around the clock.

Brady, 74, is due to attend a mental health tribunal this Monday regarding his application to be transferred to a Scottish prison and be allowed to die.

He and Myra Hindley were jailed in 1966 for killing three children.

Brady, a patient at high-security Ashworth Hospital in Maghull, since 1985, has been tube fed since refusing food 12 years ago.

A statement from Ashworth said he had become "acutely physically unwell" and remained in a single room accompanied at all times by two Ashworth nurses.

"Two other members of Ashworth Hospital staff will also be on duty outside his room throughout his stay in the general hospital," it read.

Brady's solicitor Richard Nicholas said his client was still being assessed but he remained "hopeful" the tribunal would go ahead as planned.

On Tuesday, the BBC learned of a letter written by Brady in the last few days in which he complained that the public and press would only be able to view the tribunal via videolink rather than in person, a situation he described as a "parody" of a public tribunal.

He gave no indication of any health problems in the letter which might have explained his admission to hospital for medical treatment.

Brady has been on successive hunger strikes since 1999 in an attempt to kill himself.

The murderer is sectioned under the Mental Health Act, so he is not allowed to take his own life.

Seizures, which can start at any age and may be a one-off event, result from abnormalities in the brain, but there are many different types and causes.

They may be a sign of underlying health problems like epilepsy or a brain tumour, although some remain unexplained.

Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley lured children and teenagers to their deaths, torturing them before burying their bodies on Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester.

Pauline Reade, 16, disappeared on her way to a dance on 12 July 1963 and John Kilbride, 12, was snatched four months later.

Keith Bennett was abducted on 16 June 1964 after he left home to visit his grandmother.

Lesley Ann Downey, 10, was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964 while Edward Evans, 17, was killed in October 1965.

Brady was jailed for life at Chester Assizes in 1966 for the murders of John, Lesley Ann and Edward, while Hindley was jailed for life for killing Lesley Ann and Edward and shielding Brady after John's murder.

In 1987 the pair finally admitted killing Keith and Pauline. Both were taken back to Saddleworth Moor in 1987 to help police find the remains of the missing victims but only Pauline's body was found.

Hindley died in jail in November 2002, aged 60.