Ban sought on book by Moors murderer

A book on serial killers written by Moors murderer Ian Brady could be banned in Britain because of a legal challenge. Managers of the high-security Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside, where the killer is being held, have obtained an injunction temporarily blocking publication of the book.

The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Analysis, which includes profiles of the minds of serial killers such as Peter Sutcliffe, has been sold to the American publisher Feral House, and will be in bookshops in the United States by the end of the year. Under a deal with a British distributor, copies of the 300-page book were due to go on sale in the United Kingdom in November.

Because of the injunction, a shipment to Britain of 3,500 copies of the book has been halted, pending a hearing next week in front of a High Court judge. Ashworth Hospital bosses believe the book may breach patient confidentiality.

Brady, 63, has said the book contains no reference to the killings committed with Myra Hindley. His former lawyer, Benedict Birnberg, warned that the killer could bring a case under the Human Rights Act, claiming he was being denied freedom of expression. He said the £3,420 advance and subsequent royalties would go to Brady's mother.