How many more might there have been?
Between 1963 and 1965, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley murdered, in collaboration, at least five young people. The names we know are Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Anne Downey and Edward Evans, who were between 10 and 17 years of age when they were variously tortured, sexually abused and murdered.
It has always been rumoured that there may have been more victims of the pair, buried somewhere on the Saddleworth moors where the bodies of John, Lesley Anne and Pauline were eventually found. Keith’s body has never been found, but is believed to be somewhere on the moor.
On the morning of 7th October 1965, a man telephoned Hyde Police Station to report a murder. That phone call resulted in the arrest of Ian Brady, and later that of Myra Hindley. The pair spent the rest of their lives incarcerated.
The man who made the phone call was David Smith, married at the time to Hindley’s sister and a fairly close acquaintance of both Brady and Hindley. Smith had witnessed the murder of Edward Evans the previous night, and fearing for his own life had helped the two to clean their house afterwards.
David Smith was smeared in court by lawyers for both the accused, and was also treated abominably, and as a suspect, by most of the police officers involved in the case. He was vilified as a result of that treatment, by the people of Manchester, and suffered for most of his life from the association with the murderers.
In reality, David Smith was a hero. A real hero, who probably saved the lives of several if not many future victims. This play looks at a real-life hero, and tells his story.
Development Status: PARTIAL SCRIPT