Ian Brady: Moors murders 'petty' compared with actions of politicians and soldiers Brady will not be asked about his crimes or about where he buried Keith Bennett, 12, the only one of his victims whose body has never been found. At the start of the hearing Brady addressed His Honour Judge Robert Atherton, mumbling in a soft Scottish accent as he asked questions about administrative matters. Sitting between his barrister Nathalie Lieven QC and a female clerk, Glasgow-born Brady spent the hearing taking copious notes as doctors discussed the state of his mental health. The hearing is taking place at Ashworth, where Brady has been a patient since 1985, and is being relayed to the Manchester Civil Justice Centre so that relatives of his victims, the media and the general public can watch the proceedings. It is only the second time a Mental Health Tribunal has been held in public, and is the first time Brady's voice has been heard since he was jailed for the Moors murders in 1966. The only other time he has been seen since then was when he was taken back to Saddleworth Moor in 1987 to help police locate the body of Pauline Reade, 16. Dr Cameron Boyd, one of the two members of the tribunal panel sitting with the judge, met Brady last Wednesday to discuss his case and to make an assessment of his condition. He said: "Asked about his previous behaviour, that might be seen as being abnormal in regard to his offending, he said it was an existential exercise, a personal philosophy and interpretation and his behaviour was petty in relation to politicians and soldiers in some wars." Brady had "denied being psychotic and said he was acting and clinicians knew he was acting." He told another doctor he had learned how to fake mental illness while working as a cleaner in a ward at Wormwood Scrubs prison earlier in his sentence. Dr Boyd said that "I asked him if he was suicidal and he said he wanted to go on hunger strike. I asked him if he wanted to die and he said that was his business. At the beginning of the hearing the judge addressed the public and said the Tribunal would only decide whether Brady was well enough to be transferred back into the prison system, adding that there was no question of him ever being released into the community. He added: "We will not be hearing evidence relating to the circumstances of the offences he committed. There will be no questions about the likely place of the body of Keith Bennett. The reason we shall not be making those inquiries is because they are not relevant to the issues we have to decide. The whereabouts of Keith Bennett's body is not a matter we have the authority to inquire about. The judge said the hearing would decide whether Brady is suffering from schizophrenia, something that "is disputed by Mr Brady," and whether he has a personality disorder, which he also disputes. The hearing will also judge the "nature and degree of his disorder," whether his detention in hospital is necessary for his own health and safety and the safety of others, and to determine whether appropriate treatment would be available in prison. The judge said he wanted to "reassure everyone and particularly Mr Brady that we come to this hospital but are independent of all hospitals." He said he hoped the hearing would be "relaxed," adding: "One must never underestimate the tension which is felt by any patient who faces any tribunal in any hospital and this is no different in that regard." Brady is sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but in a hearing which is expected to last eight days he will try to convince the tribunal that he should be declared sane and moved into the prison system. Families of his victims, who do not want him to be allowed to determine his own fate, will not have a chance to be heard by the Tribunal. Between 1962 and 1965 Brady and Hindley - who died in 2002 - murdered Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, 12, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17, and buried them on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester. They were jailed for life in 1966 but they were not convicted of Keith Bennett's murder until 1987, when they confessed to those killings.