BRITAIN: Myra Hindley was one of the few female icons of evil. Her part in what became known in Britain as the Moors Murders gave her an infamy which remained undimmed by her 36 years in jail, fuelled partly by shock that a woman could have carried out horrific crimes against children.
Every bid to win her freedom has attracted an avalanche of hostility and even the sight of her portrait hanging in a London gallery triggered violent protests.
Hindley (60), claimed her role in the murders was to abduct the children, and that she did not take part in the killings or sex attacks. She heaped the blame for the crimes on her accomplice Ian Brady, claiming she was infatuated with her perverted lover who beat and blackmailed her into going along with his demonic plans.
But attempts by campaigners, led by Lord Longford, to challenge the "evil Myra mythology" made little headway. Hindley, prisoner 964055, was declared a reformed character, a devout Roman Catholic who had found her God, turned to education and who was suffering for her sins.
But the public remained unconvinced and the families of her victims vowed to kill her if she was ever set free. Her supporters argued that mitigating factors about Brady's stranglehold over her were not taken into account at the time of her trial.
In 1998 Hindley claimed that she had been sadistically abused by Brady, who had threatened to kill her mother, grandmother and sister if she did not participate in the murders. She said he took pornographic photographs of her to blackmail her with and claimed there were pictures which showed her body naked and bruised.
But Brady, with whom she severed relations several years into their sentences, and who by contrast made no efforts to secure parole, seemed determined to thwart Hindley's own bid for freedom. He wrote to ministers in 1997 claiming she was as committed to murder as he was and dismissing suggestions that she was an unwilling accomplice.
After their trial the presiding judge Mr Justice Fenton Atkinson drew a distinction between the two. He said: "Though I believe that Brady is wicked beyond belief without hope of redemption, I cannot feel the same is necessarily true of Hindley once she is removed from his influence. I hope Brady will not be released in any foreseeable future and that Hindley will be kept in prison for a very long time."
Hindley, who attained an honours degree in humanities during her time in prison, continued to insist that she no longer posed a risk to society.
In 1994 she published a letter, begging: "After 30 years in prison, I think I have paid my debt to society and atoned for my crimes. I ask people to judge me as I am now, and not as I was then."
And when the then Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard confirmed her life tariff in 1997, she responded: "Nobody but myself can be fully aware of [my crimes'\] heinousness. What I was involved in is etched into my heart and mind and my conscience will follow me to my dying day."
Despite recent legal moves to strip the current Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett of his power to decide when murderers should be released, Hindley was well aware her chances of freedom were slim and knew the hazards that would await her if she was released.
"I will take my chances. I would prefer one week of freedom to the security of a lifetime of incarceration."