Ian Brady escaped hanging – and defined attitudes to the death penalty | Martin Kettle

Apart from their sheer horror, the Moors murders stayed in the public imagination because they marked the end of capital punishment

Ian Brady retained his dark grip on the British imagination right to the very end. The 1965 police photograph of the Moors murderer stared out from the front pages once more this week to mark his death at 79, just as they have done so often ever since Brady was convicted of three murders in May 1966. Few criminals of any era are front-page news for half a century; Brady and his accomplice, Myra Hindley, were unquestionably two of them.

The most obvious reason for this 50-year notoriety is, of course, the sheer horror of the crimes that Brady planned and committed. The details of his tortures and acts are unbearable. The transcript of victims’ pleas, never mind the tapes that were heard in court, are as shocking as anything one could ever encounter.

Related: Ian Brady obituary

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