By . Arthur Martin . PUBLISHED: . 12:09 EST, 24 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:12 EST, 25 July 2013 . A shocking letter from child-killer Myra Hindley to the mother of one of her victims has emerged for the first time today . Moors Murderer Myra Hindley wrote to the mother of one of her victims claiming it was ‘deeply upsetting’ to be described as evil, it emerged yesterday. The notorious killer tried to downplay the seriousness of her crimes in an attempt to persuade families to drop a campaign against her release from prison. In a previously unseen letter, she tells Ann West – the mother of ten-year-old victim Lesley Ann Downey – that she was ‘not what I was all those years ago’. ‘I know almost everyone describes me as cold and calculating – “evil Myra” – but I ask you to believe that I find all this deeply upsetting,’ she wrote from jail. Hindley and her lover Ian Brady were responsible for the murders of five children in the 1960s. The victims were sexually tortured and buried on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester. Hindley was jailed for life in 1966 for the murders of Lesley Ann and Edward Evans, 17, plus being an accessory to the murder of 12-year-old John Kilbride by Brady. In 1987, Hindley and Brady confessed to murdering Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett, 12. One line from the never-before-revealed letter sent by Hindley to victim Lesley Ann Down's mother reads: 'I know almost everyone describes me as cold and calculating - "evil Myra" - but I ask you to believe that I find all this deeply upsetting' Moors Murderer Hindley wrote to Ann West (seen right, in 1978) - whose 10-year-old daughter Lesley Ann Downey (left) was one of five children killed by Hindley and Ian Brady in the 1960s - pleading for her family to stop campaigning against her release from prison . Seven months later she wrote to Mrs . West, expressing her ‘deep regret and remorse for all the pain and . heartache’ she had caused. Hindley said Mrs West was ‘quite rightly . fighting so hard against my release from prison’ but said she realised . ‘release from prison is no longer a practical reality’. ‘I have written to the Home Office and . the Parole Board to say I do not wish to be considered for parole in . 1990, and my own belief is that I shall probably remain in prison until I . die.’ The letter was the first, and last, sent to Mrs West by Hindley and was written on September 28, 1987, at Cookham Wood prison in Rochester, Kent . It soon emerged that the letter was a . manipulative attempt to try to stop Mrs West from blocking her release. Within years of the note, Hindley launched another application to be . granted parole, which was refused in 1994. Mrs West continued to . petition the Government to keep Hindley behind bars until her death in . 1999. Hindley died in prison in 2002. Hindley and Brady abducted Lesley Ann . from a fairground on Boxing Day in 1964 and took her to their house in . Hattersley, Manchester. A tape recording and photos they took to capture . Lesley Ann’s final moments were the most damning evidence against . Hindley during her trial. Although Ann West died in 1999, her husband Alan West (both pictured) has continued to ensure the impact of the Moors Murders is widely understood . However, in the letter to Mrs West, . Hindley attempts to play down her role. She wrote: ‘Please believe me – . not for my sake, but simply in the hope that it will give you even a . little peace of mind, that however monstrous and unforgivable the crime . was, your child was not tortured to death.’ The letter features in a . two-part Channel 5 documentary called Myra Hindley: The Untold Story, . the first part of which was screened last night. Ian Fairley, a police officer who . worked on the initial investigation, told the programme of his horror at . having to play the tape to Mrs West so she could identify her daughter. ‘I think it almost broke her and I can tell you now that it broke me,’ he said. Victims 12-year-old Keith Bennett (left), whose body has still not been found, and Pauline Read, 16. Myra Hindley and her lover Ian Brady were jailed in 1966 for their murders . Edward Evans was 17 when he was murdered by the notorious couple, while John Kilbride, right, was just 12 . Police search Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester for the bodies of the children killed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the mid-1960s . Hindley and Ian Brady (pictured above) abducted Lesley Ann from a Manchester fairground on Boxing Day 1964 and took her back to their house in Hattersley, on the outskirts of the city . Hindley's blatant lie to Mrs West - that her daughter 'was not tortured to death' - was an attempt to stop the family campaigning against her release from prison . Myra Hindley: The Untold Story is on July 24 and 31, Channel 5 at 8pm.
Wrote to Ann West, mother of Lesley Ann Downey, whom Myra Hindley murdered in 1964 .
Hindley pleaded with West family to stop campaigning against her release from jail .
Letter contains blatant lie that Lesley Ann was not tortured .
Hindley, who died in prison in 2002, and Ian Brady murdered five children .
By . Arthur Martin . PUBLISHED: . 12:09 EST, 24 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:12 EST, 25 July 2013 . A shocking letter from child-killer Myra Hindley to the mother of one of her victims has emerged for the first time today . Moors Murderer Myra Hindley wrote to the mother of one of her victims claiming it was ‘deeply upsetting’ to be described as evil, it emerged yesterday. The notorious killer tried to downplay the seriousness of her crimes in an attempt to persuade families to drop a campaign against her release from prison. In a previously unseen letter, she tells Ann West – the mother of ten-year-old victim Lesley Ann Downey – that she was ‘not what I was all those years ago’. ‘I know almost everyone describes me as cold and calculating – “evil Myra” – but I ask you to believe that I find all this deeply upsetting,’ she wrote from jail. Hindley and her lover Ian Brady were responsible for the murders of five children in the 1960s. The victims were sexually tortured and buried on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester. Hindley was jailed for life in 1966 for the murders of Lesley Ann and Edward Evans, 17, plus being an accessory to the murder of 12-year-old John Kilbride by Brady. In 1987, Hindley and Brady confessed to murdering Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett, 12. One line from the never-before-revealed letter sent by Hindley to victim Lesley Ann Down's mother reads: 'I know almost everyone describes me as cold and calculating - "evil Myra" - but I ask you to believe that I find all this deeply upsetting' Moors Murderer Hindley wrote to Ann West (seen right, in 1978) - whose 10-year-old daughter Lesley Ann Downey (left) was one of five children killed by Hindley and Ian Brady in the 1960s - pleading for her family to stop campaigning against her release from prison . Seven months later she wrote to Mrs . West, expressing her ‘deep regret and remorse for all the pain and . heartache’ she had caused. Hindley said Mrs West was ‘quite rightly . fighting so hard against my release from prison’ but said she realised . ‘release from prison is no longer a practical reality’. ‘I have written to the Home Office and . the Parole Board to say I do not wish to be considered for parole in . 1990, and my own belief is that I shall probably remain in prison until I . die.’ The letter was the first, and last, sent to Mrs West by Hindley and was written on September 28, 1987, at Cookham Wood prison in Rochester, Kent . It soon emerged that the letter was a . manipulative attempt to try to stop Mrs West from blocking her release. Within years of the note, Hindley launched another application to be . granted parole, which was refused in 1994. Mrs West continued to . petition the Government to keep Hindley behind bars until her death in . 1999. Hindley died in prison in 2002. Hindley and Brady abducted Lesley Ann . from a fairground on Boxing Day in 1964 and took her to their house in . Hattersley, Manchester. A tape recording and photos they took to capture . Lesley Ann’s final moments were the most damning evidence against . Hindley during her trial. Although Ann West died in 1999, her husband Alan West (both pictured) has continued to ensure the impact of the Moors Murders is widely understood . However, in the letter to Mrs West, . Hindley attempts to play down her role. She wrote: ‘Please believe me – . not for my sake, but simply in the hope that it will give you even a . little peace of mind, that however monstrous and unforgivable the crime . was, your child was not tortured to death.’ The letter features in a . two-part Channel 5 documentary called Myra Hindley: The Untold Story, . the first part of which was screened last night. Ian Fairley, a police officer who . worked on the initial investigation, told the programme of his horror at . having to play the tape to Mrs West so she could identify her daughter. ‘I think it almost broke her and I can tell you now that it broke me,’ he said. Victims 12-year-old Keith Bennett (left), whose body has still not been found, and Pauline Read, 16. Myra Hindley and her lover Ian Brady were jailed in 1966 for their murders . Edward Evans was 17 when he was murdered by the notorious couple, while John Kilbride, right, was just 12 . Police search Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester for the bodies of the children killed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the mid-1960s . Hindley and Ian Brady (pictured above) abducted Lesley Ann from a Manchester fairground on Boxing Day 1964 and took her back to their house in Hattersley, on the outskirts of the city . Hindley's blatant lie to Mrs West - that her daughter 'was not tortured to death' - was an attempt to stop the family campaigning against her release from prison . Myra Hindley: The Untold Story is on July 24 and 31, Channel 5 at 8pm.
Myra Hindley wrote to the mother of one of her Lesley Ann Downey (left) was one of five children killed by Hindley and Ian Brady in the 1960s - pleading for her family to stop campaigning 1999. Hindley died in prison in 2002. Hindley and Mrs West - that her daughter 'was not tortured to campaigning against her release from prison .