Ian Brady, one of the country's most notorious serial killers, has died at the age of 79.

The evil actions of Brady and his former lover Myra Hindley, will go down in history for the horrifying nature of their crimes, with no remorse ever shown for any of their young victims.

Few killings have haunted the public imagination like the Moors Murders, which saw Brady and Hindley lure, torture, sexually abuse and murder five youngsters before burying their bodies on the bleak Saddleworth Moor.

And it was in Chester where the horrific details of their crimes emerged fully - at the pair's two-week trial at Chester Assizes in April 1966.

Particularly harrowing was the 17-minute tape played to the courtroom of the last moments of 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey's life, recording her desperate pleas to go home to her mother as Brady and Hindley stripped her, tied her up and murdered her.

The eyes of the world were on Chester for two weeks in 1966 as the Moors Murders trial got under way at Chester Assizes

Vile photographs were also shown for the first time of Lesley bound and gagged in Hindley's bedroom.

Throughout the trial, covered by former Chester Chronicle editor David Parry-Jones, who was a young reporter at the time, 28-year-old Brady appeared unmoved by the proceedings, constantly looking around him.

Such was the public feeling towards Brady and Hindley at the time, elaborate security precautions were put in place at Chester Assizes in the weeks leading up to the trial. These included a public address system costing the taxpayer £2,500 and £500 worth of telephone equipment.

The vehicle transporting the killers to Chester from their Warrington prison was installed with special one-way glass to make it hard for the public to catch a glimpse of them.

After they were sentenced to life imprisonment, with Brady being found guilty of what Mr Justice Atkinson called 'three calculated, cool, cold-blooded murders', Brady was not seen in public again for another 46 years.

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley leave Chester Assizes during their trial. The picture was taken by renowned Chester photographer Gary Talbot who was covering the trial for the Daily Mail

He had been asking to be allowed to die for decades and went on hunger strike in 1999, but over the years he still enjoyed keeping an element of control by refusing to reveal where he had buried the body of 12-year-old Keith Bennett in 1964.

Keith's mother Winnie Johnson had written letters to Brady, pleading for him to tell police where to find Keith's body and the killer even spent a day on Saddleworth Moor trying to lead officers to his remains in 1987.

The victims of the Moors Murderers (from left to right): Pauline Reade, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, John Kilbride and Edward Evans

But despite walking for miles, Brady gave nothing away, and Winnie died in 2012 without ever being able to lay her son to rest.

Now, Brady finally has his wish - he is dead, of lung cancer. And he has taken the secret of where Keith Bennett remains to his grave.