Solicitor = Selfish & Unfeeling ?

[Canary42]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-47217878

[Synopsis: Solicitor refuses to unlock Ian Brady's briefcases]

Why not release the papers - they might just have a clue to the lad's burial place. And the owner is dead, so who is he "protecting" ?

Self-important solicitor ought to be defrocked by his peers (or whatever they do) but no doubt they will close ranks as usual.

[Calicogirl]

What a souless little 5h1t.
Hope he rots, the abomination.

[naomi24]

Very strange. I wonder why?

[sunny-dave]

Right up there with the *** who shielded the "speedboat killer" for all those months whilst their cheques rolled in ...

[hereIam]

Creep. What's the problem when the contents may help find a poor, innocent young boy who did not deserve to die ??? He's a disgrace to his profession in my opinion.

[Patsy33]

Hmmm, makes you wonder..
Terrible for the family. I do hope with all my heart someone can make him open it.

[naomi24]

Surely if the contents might be relevant to the crimes, I would have thought he could be compelled to release them. If not, why not?

[Calicogirl]

Exactly supposing it implicated someone else apart from himself and Hindley, who might still be alive? Very relevant it's opened I would have thought.
That solicitor has always been a little *** though, very protective of Brady ( which was fair enough, he worked for him whilst he was alive) but not keen to distance himself now or indeed immediately after he'd died and he kicked up a fuss about funeral arrangements for a while I think.
Ghastly little man :(

[Barmaid]

I am not saying I agree because at least on the grounds of humanity he ought to accede to this.

However, IB has no doubt given directions to his executor under his Will and it appears that the solicitor is the executor. Undoubtedly, the executor will have consulted the beneficiaries of the Will since once the estate (if any) is administered, they own the contents.

Unless and until a Court orders the disclosure then technically this guy is correct and COULD be censured by the Law Society if he did anything else.

Instead of jumping up and down, the newspapers might be advised to obtain a copy of the Will (if probate has been granted) and the key might be within.

[TonyV]

That seems really strange, even stranger that judge would not sign order, siting no prosecution viable.

[johnny.5]

barmaid
my thoughts precisely

[JF85]

A judge has ruled against forcing the opening, and the police are playing games. If they do not "confirm ... active lines of enquiry", what are all those appeals to trace 'the driver of a blue car', or 'can you identify this woman'?

I suspect Ian Brady knew there was nothing of any use in the cases but had a malicious smile on his face when he asked for them to remain locked. He was no longer able to hurt anyone but he knew how to make sure other people did it on his behalf.

I am not a solicitor, but have known and worked with many. They may not like what they are asked to do but they have legal responsibilities, however loathsome those responsibilities might be.

[Sqad]

I know Mr Makin and i knew his father who was also a well known solicitor in Liverpool, very well.
I can assure you he is not a souless little 5h1t and hoping that he rots is a disgraceful post.

I agree with the post of Barmaid.

[weecalf]

Maybe there is a thing like when the government don’t tell us what they were really up to for thirty years .After so many years then maybe the brief case become the property of the state .

[Barmaid]

Unless IB has bequeathed it under his Will to the state, it wont, Weecalf.

[Togo]

Plod is very fond of seizing laptops and computers to scan them for "evidence" of crimes or the possibility of crimes. Valuable evidence may lie therein is usually given as the reason. When did a locked briefcase become out of bounds?

[nailit]

I always remember a prison screw once telling us (a bunch of cons in the visiting room, waiting for our visitors..1994) that solicitors were bigger crooks than any of us that they were defending. (he had his own dealings with 'briefs' at the time and was been charged £££)
I know what he meant now.
Must be some law about this??

[jno]

good post, Sqad. Condemning people you don't know to rot in hell is a very internet thing.

[fiction-factory]

The article seems to answer Togo's query;
"After Brady's death in 2017, Greater Manchester Police applied for a court order to examine the contents, which was denied on the grounds that there was no longer any prospect of an investigation leading to a prosecution."
However I agree that a prosecution is not the priority here- it's finding information that may help find the body

[Theland]

Convicted murderers should have no legal rights to shackle people from beyond the prison cell, never mind the grave.

[Togo]

Is preventing the respectful burial of a body not a crime? Or the concealment of information relevant to a missing person a crime? Or is it just a distinction as to were the information may be lodged that is the issue?