Moors murderer Ian Brady has embarked on the first stage of a legal bid to be allowed to kill himself.
The 69-year-old is applying to be moved out of a mental health unit to a conventional prison so he can starve himself to death.
Brady, who was jailed alongside Myra Hindley in 1966 for murdering five children, has been on hunger strike for several years, but is being kept alive by forced feeding.
While the procedure is not allowed in normal circumstances, as long as he is classed as a mental patient doctors can force feed him through a tube as a form of treatment.
His lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano said Brady now weighed about just 7st 12lbs (50kg) and was determined to end his life if given the chance.
Mr Di Stefano believes Brady should be allowed to do so as he serves "no purpose in life" and was costing up to £1 million a year through legal fees and health costs.
"My personal view, and I have made that very clear, is that this man is saner than me or you - certainly me," he said.
He added that Brady had said he was prepared to help police find one of his victims' bodies as a way of proving his sanity.
"He is prepared to help them because in helping them find the body it is a retentive memory test," he said.
A Mental Health Review Tribunal is set to consider Brady's application to be moved to a standard jail.
