Jeremy Corbyn's former campaign chief tweets fake news about Moors Murderer Ian Brady

Jon Trickett shared a picture of a mocked up article which said Theresa May had issued a compassionate release order to the serial killer

Jon Trickett, left, with his ally Jeremy Corbyn (Getty Images)

Jeremy Corbyn's former campaign chief tweeted a picture of a fake news article claiming Theresa May was preparing to release the notorious Moors Murderer Ian Brady before his death on Monday.

Jon Trickett, 66, shared the photo of the mocked up BBC breaking news image which said the Prime Minister had issued a compassionate release order for the serial killer, who died in a secure hospital in Merseyside aged 79.

The Labour candidate, who has been MP for Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, since 1996, said the fabricated story was "truly astonishing" in a retweet to his 15,000 followers.

Twitter users say Mr Trickett quickly acknowledged the article was fake and deleted the tweet.

Screenshots reveal the post had been retweeted and liked at least 45 times before it was removed.

The blunder triggered anger and amusement among social media users, while political opponents used it as an opportunity to attack the Labour Party.

Jon Trickett shared the post with more than 15,000 followers (Twitter)

Mark Wallace, editor of the ConservativeHome website, tweeted: "Shame on @jon_trickett for sharing this disgusting (and transparently fake) smear. Really shoddy from a Shadow Cabinet member.

"Oddly @jon_trickett tweeted acknowledging it was "fake news" but not apologising to May, but has now deleted that too."

@stuart180 said: "See @jon_trickett has deleted it, if only there was a way to keep a record of this shameless #fakenews."

Mr Trickett, who twice nominated Mr Corbyn to be Labour leader, has previously joked about the fake news phenomenon, responding to a poll about the popularity of pork pies with the quip "almost certainly fake news".

He was promoted to a number of front bench roles after serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010.

Mr Corbyn appointed him as Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and then Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills between 2015-2016.

The father-of-three landed further roles as Shadow Lord President of the Council and Campaigns and Elections Director in June 2016, but lost the role in a reshuffle in February.

He had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.