SERIAL killer Ian Brady could still be cremated in Glasgow despite efforts to stop it, a city council source has told the Sunday Herald.
The Moors Murderer’s dying wish was to be cremated in Glasgow with no religious ceremony.
His will also stated he wanted his ashes to be scattered in the River Clyde near The Gorbals, to the sound of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, which charts a killer’s descent into hell.
Read more: Glasgow-born serial killer Ian Brady's longing for Scotland came through in his letters
Glasgow City Council which runs two of the city’s crematoria said any request from his solicitor to cremate Brady in Glasgow would be turned down, and in turn put pressure on two private crematoria to do the same.
A source at the council said there are four crematoria in Glasgow. There are two council-run crematoria, Daldowie and Linn, and there are two private crematoria, Craigton and Glasgow Crematorium, which is in Lambhill.
The council source said: “Craigton is definitely not doing it but [Glasgow Crematorium] is not saying if they’re definitely not doing it. If asked, they’re refusing to say that they won’t do it. So if it’s in Glasgow that’s the only place it could be.”
Glasgow Crematorium is run by Lucille Furie, a former employee of Glasgow City Council. It is understood senior officials at the local authority spoke to Furie on Friday.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Furie said: “The only conversation I’ve had with the city council is to say ‘no comment’. This isn’t a matter for me, it’s a matter for my board. I know nothing about anything. Genuinely, honestly, I know nothing about the service. I can’t help you. You’re better speaking to a member of the board on Monday.”
Read more: Previously unseen pictures of serial killer Ian Brady on holiday in Scotland could be "grave markers
When asked about the procedure for arranging a cremation, Furie said: “What happens is an undertaker makes the approach. Even if they did it’s not something I’d be discussing because anything I deal with is confidential.”
When asked if Brady’s solicitor, who has responsibility for the body, had been in touch with Glasgow Crematorium, Furie said: “I haven’t been approached, I can’t give you any information. I don’t know anything about it. I’d be very surprised if he comes north of the border.” The Glasgow City Council source also revealed police in the city contacted the local authority because they are concerned about trouble erupting if Brady is cremated in the city.
The source added: “It could yet be in Glasgow. The police are certainly concerned that it is going to be in Glasgow. The police phoned us because they had a concern about public order.
“If the ashes are scattered in Glasgow in secret there is nothing we can do it about that. What we’re determined to do, as far as we can, is to stop them from doing the cremation in Glasgow.”
A spokesman for Craigton Crematorium said they had no bookings to cremate anyone who was known by the name Brady, or Stewart, Ian Brady’s birth name.
Read more: Glasgow-born serial killer Ian Brady's longing for Scotland came through in his letters
The spokesman added: “We have not been contacted by anyone who is responsible for the body of anyone who went by either of those names. It would be unlikely that a funeral director would give a false name in a booking or in paperwork because there could be reputational damage and, quite simply, we would never work with them again.”
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