Tributes have been paid to a "brave, bold, and risk-taking" lawyer who represented one of the Moors Murderers’ during their plea for parole.

Andrew McCooey, from Sittingbourne, died aged 75 at Hengist Field care home in Borden after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 10 years ago.

The grandad-of-six had been practising law since 1979 and helped thousands of people after specialising in crime and human rights.

His wife of 49 years, Margaret, described her husband as "fearless, eccentric, and always thinking outside the box".

Speaking with a big smile she said: "Andrew was very eloquent. As he was of Irish descent he kissed the Blarney Stone, something that is said to give eloquence, when he was a teenager and he was proud of that.

"He said it was his best qualification!"

The dad-of-three was born in Dartford after his parents moved to Kent from Ireland in the 1940s.

Throughout his career, Andrew saved eight people from death row in the Caribbean and US.

He also obtained the release of many other British prisoners following long jail sentences for crimes they'd been wrongly convicted of as part of Freedom Now, a foundation he founded in pursuit of justice for Britons abroad.

Margaret said: "Andrew always said there was no greater blessing than coming back on a plane with free people who had been in prison abroad."

However, the Christian solicitor, who became a Judge in 1999, was most famously known for taking on Myra Hindley’s plea for parole.

Hindley, who was serving her life sentence at Cookham Wood prison in Rochester, assisted boyfriend Ian Brady in kidnapping children who were sexually assaulted and murdered by him before their bodies were buried on the moors above Manchester between 1963 and 1965. Their victims were aged between 10 and 17.

She received two life sentences, plus seven years for harbouring Brady, who went on to be detained in a top security mental hospital.

At the time Andrew and Margaret were members of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship which was approached in a bid to find a local solicitor willing to take on Hindley's application for parole.

Margaret confirmed this happened long after the murders and after Hindley had become a Christian in prison.

She added: “She wanted a Christian solicitor, and nobody in this area would take her on because of her dreadful name. Andrew said to me ‘What do you think? I think we should say yes and apply for parole’.

“Whoever agreed to her parole would have been so unpopular, that’s why no one was willing to do anything. After he told me about his plans, Andrew said to me 'We'll get a lot of flack' but I thought we should do it.

“The point for us was, is there anyone so evil, who was brought so low, who God couldn't forgive?”

Andrew fought for Hindley's parole until she died of pneumonia in 2002. The couple received hate mail and even a brick through their window as a result.

Margaret, who met her husband at Bible College in St Albans, Hertfordshire, said: “We thought we were going to be missionaries but he ended up going into law and it was the very best thing to happen to him.

“I think it's a lawyer's duty that you help anyone, you're not the judge, which Andrew would always point out.”

The couple said their faith steered them in what they’d chosen to do and who they’ve helped.

Margaret continued: "Andrew was extremely funny and always joking.

"He was a fun dad to our daughters, Caroline, Juliet and Christabel. He was away a lot for work of course, but he was lovely and full of fun.

"He loved funfairs and would go on the scariest rides if the girls wanted to."

After being appointed as a judge and working at crown courts across the south east, Andrew continued with his law practice, which opened in 1987 at his home in London Road.

He fully retired in 2012 after his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Though it developed slowly it was over the last five years that Andrew became very ill.

In October he moved to the care home in Borden as he needed 24-hour care.

He died on the afternoon of December 27 after spending Christmas with his family.

Throughout his time as a solicitor, Andrew made friendships, some of which Margaret said were "surprising and memorable".

She said: "The highlights of his career were some of the people he met and worked with, such as Lord Longford, a champion of prisoners, Lord Denning, a master of the roles - the highest judge in the land, and Lord Scarman, an appeal court judge.

"Andrew was from such a humble background and yet through his career he met amazingly good men, it was so miraculous really that he bumped into them."

Andrew also helped many others closer to home.

He was involved with a case that saw Sittingbourne man Stephen Owen acquitted after he shot a man who ran over and killed his 12-year-old son, Darren.

The lorry driver, who drove off after the accident and showed no remorse, didn’t even have a driving licence and was only given an 18-month sentence for dangerous driving – serving just a year in prison.

At the 1992 trial, Andrew instructed Mr Owen to plead not guilty even though he went on to admit everything.

The decision allowed Mr Owen to pour his heart out and the jury came back with a not guilty verdict.

Margaret added: "Andrew was never ambitious in the way most people are with their career track.

"He would say that God was leading him with his faith to help the powerless.

"He wasn't there for the rich and powerful, he was there for ordinary people.

"People still remember what he did for them. The people in Sittingbourne who he helped say they'll never forget what he did for them and their families. They still hold him dear."

Andrew leaves behind his wife, children, and grandchildren.

His funeral is being held on January 25 at 11am at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in West Street, Sittingbourne.

If you wish to send flowers or make donations to Sacred Heart, which helped Andrew through his illness, contact Bournes Funeral Service.