THE MOTHER of the 'lost' victim of Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley has spoken of her joy after he was finally granted a memorial service - 46 years after his death.

Keith Bennett was 12 in 1964 when Hindley and Brady abducted him and murdered him on Saddleworth Moor, in Greater Manchester.

He's since known as 'The Lost Boy' - the only Moors victim never to be found, and without a body has never had an inquest or a funeral.

Now Keith has been granted a memorial service on Friday 5th March at Manchester Cathedral so his family can at last say a proper goodbye.

The Bishop of Manchester, Right Rev Nigel McCulloch will oversee the service for victim's relatives, family, friends and the public with readings and hymns.

Mum Winnie Johnson, 75, wept at news that her 46 year wait to say goodbye to Keith was finally coming to an end.

She said: “All these years since Brady and Hindley took my Keith away I have never been able to properly say goodbye.

Funeral

“The only funeral I have read about is Hindley's when she died - Keith has been left forgotten.

“Even the police last year gave up the search for his body, meaning we're having to carry on looking for his body ourselves.

“This service is what I have hoped for, although I still pray for the day we can find him and give him a decent, Christian burial.

“It is so hard to grieve without him found yet for 46 years I have dreamed of a funeral that celebrates his life, however short it was.

“Now thanks to the bishop, and my priest Rev Gomersall, this is finally going to happen.

“Hindley has already gone but Brady is alive in his cell and I hope he hears about this.

“Whatever he did to Keith will not stop us celebrating what a wonderful boy he was.”

Winnie asked the vicar of her C of E church, St John Chrysostom, in Victoria Park, Manchester, for help in getting a service.

Rev Ian Gomersall said: “Winnie's determination to give her son a final resting place has been an inspiration.

Support

“Winnie now feels it is appropriate to hold a public memorial service for Keith and she does so with the prayers and support of her family, her church and her friends.”

A spokesman for the Bishop of Manchester said: “The public memorial service, at which the Bishop of Manchester will preach, is to be held at the Cathedral on Friday 5th March at 11am.

“It will be an opportunity for different sections of the community to remember this tragic event.

“Winnie also hopes to be able to say 'thank you' to those who have helped look for Keith's remains, especially the Police.”

Keith was abducted on the way to his gran's on June 16, 1964, and killed by Brady and lover Myra Hindley on Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester.

The pair - who also murdered Lesley Ann Downey, ten, John Kilbride, 12, Pauline Reade, 16, and Edward Evans, 17 - were jailed for life two years later.

After the first three bodies had been found, Brady - who lived in Hattersley - was taken back to Saddleworth in 1987 to help police find Pauline's remains. Hindley died in November 2002, aged 60.

Now Winnie has launched the Keith Bennett Trust to raise funds for their own search of the moors after Greater Manchester Police declared in July they had stopped their 45-year search.

For details of the Trust and how you can help, see www.searchingforkeith.com .