Geoff Knupfer

I went to university and then got a first degree and then did a master's degree after that off my own back part time and various other qualifications over the years.

So

Yeah, I think university was an afterthought in those days, but I'm very, very grateful to the police for kind of educating me, I suppose.

What did you study?

Politics and history in the early days and then forensic science later.

Well, yes, it did.

Albeit, I have to say, you know, when I came to Ireland in 2005, by any stretch, it was a steep learning curve.

There's no two ways about that.

You know, they were clearly difficult times.

And albeit I'd studied history, I wasn't aware of just how dire things were pre-1968, 69, you know.

Yeah, I was four years, something like that, out on the streets doing shift work.

Early days, obviously, pounding the beat on foot.

As years went by, panda cars came along and we were all driving around, which I think was probably a great mistake for policing, really, because we lost that touch with the communities.

Yes, yeah.

This was a couple, Ian Brady and Mara Hindley, who had been working together in the early 60s.

They met at their place of work, a firm called Millwards Merchandising.

She was a young typist, never been in trouble at all.

Brady was born in Glasgow and had spent his early days up there and got himself in a bit of hot water here and there with theft and the like.

And one of the court appearances that he made, the judge said, right, well, your mother has moved.

She'd met somebody and moved down to Manchester.