The younger brother of Moors Murder victim John Kilbride has died – after a lifelong crusade to keep Ian Brady and Myra Hindley behind bars.
Danny Kilbride was just 11 when John, then 12, was snatched from Ashton market, strangled and buried in a shallow grave. He was the second of Brady and Hindley’s five victims.
Danny spent the majority of the next 48 years acting as a spokesman for his devastated family – and insisting ‘life should mean life’ for the pair.
Now, aged 59, he has lost his battle with cancer. Relatives said he was at peace, knowing Hindley was never released before she died in 2002 and Brady will not be freed.
Brother Terry Kilbride said Danny’s only regret would have been that he had wanted to outlive both.
Terry, 56, said: "He fought all his life. His brother had been murdered and he wanted justice – he wanted life for life.
"He got that justice for Myra Hindley because she died in prison.
"Ian Brady is still in prison and is going to die in prison. So he got his justice.
"That should go for everyone who’s done a crime like that. Life is life – not 15 or 20 years."
John Kilbride disappeared on November 23, 1963. He had been earning pocket money by helping stallholders on the market when Hindley lured him away.
Danny appeared in a police dramatisation in the immediate aftermath aimed at finding his missing brother.
By then, though, John had been strangled by Brady. His body was later tracked down through a picture of Hindley posing by his grave.
Danny went on to head up the shattered Kilbride family when his parents marriage broke down.
He was tireless in his crusade against his brother’s killers, appearing on numerous documentaries to call for full life sentences.
Danny – of Guide Lane, Audenshaw – once said he hoped Hindley would ‘rot in hell’.
He also became a rock for both his five remaining siblings and the relatives of other victims of horrific crimes.
Terry, of Timperley Road in Ashton, said that despite his pain, Danny – who leaves wife Anne and six children – still looked on the bright side of life.
He said: "Danny was the most jolly person you could ever meet – laughing and joking with everyone.
"You’d go a long way to find one like Danny.
"He never flinched. No matter what he had to do, he just did it. You’d never know what he was going through.
"Danny’s not just done it for our family, he’s fought for every family, for everybody in the country in the same predicament.
"He did that for everyone. I’m the same. I will fight all my life – I'll fight for everyone’s family."
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RIP. I really hope you meet up with John again.
This just goes to illustrate that the ripples from the shock wave of a murder are very far reaching, and the consequences last for years. Those who are left behind have their lives ruined by the dreadful acts of others.
I'm not normally a supporter of capital punishment, but the fact that Brady & Hindley were gaoled seemed to make the torment of the victims worse, even if they did offer false hope by pretending to show where the bodies were buried.
Rest in peace Danny. I never knew you, but it seems you were an extraordinary gentleman.
It's nice to know that you are now with your brother John.
My thoughts go out to both your family & friends.
Sleep tight both of you.
R.I.P Danny, Hope you are with John now. Terrible thing to live with, and in spite of your happy and brave face, there would have been lots of dark times to get through.
God Bless You
It just shows you the longevity of sadness and heartache cases like this brings - it has been torture for this family not knowing where their loved one was laid..sad really RIP Danny
R.I.P. Danny - and if there really is a Heaven I hope you manage to meet up with your brother. I knew your father Patrick and he, like yourself, always had a smile for others while suffering the most terrible heartache inside. I always felt when talking to Patrick that the death penalty for those two monsters who killed his son and the other youngsters would have brought him a little closure and a feeling of justice for his son.
Tormented all through his life, G-d knows how tragic this story is, i remember it as though it was yesterday,the misery caused by these monsters,rest in peace Danny Kilbride with your brother,and all the other victims
SHALOM.
RIP, and my condolences to his family & friends.
All that suffering for Brady & Hindley's 'pleasure'-seeking! I'm glad the result included their own long suffering and misery, with their lives ruined. God bless all the victims and families who never deserved the torment caused by that evil pair. R.I.P.
I grew up in the area where some of the children were abducted and murdered; and although these vile acts took place years before I was born, they left generations of people in these commnuities completely traumatized.
I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Danny.
R.I.P.
rest in peace Danny you fought for john all of your life, and can take solice in the fact you are with him again and knowing where Hindley is rotting and Brady will join her soon enough
May you both rest in piece in heavens glory
RIP Danny. From Lesley-Ann Downey's family.
RIP Danny from Lesley Ann Downey's brother & family
RIP.You may not have outlived them both but you are now in a far lovlier place than they could ever hope to be.
He must be a saint for all he did and had to endure. Nobody should. May he Rest in Peace
R.I.P A sorry episode for our great city.
God bless you Danny sleep well.Hope if there is an after life its better than the one you were dealt .R.I.P
R.I.P.Mr Kilbride & God Bless your Family.
R.i.p hope use meat in hevin
Sad news...I used to work with Danny at the slaughter house in Ashton...great guy RIP old friend
RIP Danny ,your family will be remembered forever.We all know it could have been any of uskids who went to Ashton Market at that time.David Thompson,Droylsden.
RIP Danny you are such a nice guy. I was so upset to hear you have passed away and all my sympathy and thoughts go out to all the family. I hope you meet up with John and my dad soon.
Wendy xxx