A memorial lecture has been held to remember a former reporter who was the first journalist to suggest the Moors Murders were linked.

Former Manchester Evening News journalist Ian Fowler, pictured left with wife Patricia, died in 2013 at the age of 73 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

The Parkinson’s UK charity staged a memorial lecture in tribute to Ian last night (13 May), looking at mitochondrial research and its potential for treating the disease.

Ian, who was diagnosed with the illness in his forties, was best known for a feature on the disappearances of four of the Moors Murders victims, in which he argued they must be linked, while working as crime correspondent for the MEN.

He later covered the Moors Murders trials and visited Myra Hindley in prison several times for a series of features.

The memorial lecture, entitled “Recharge Your Batteries, was held at the University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library to look at how mitochondria could be used in the treatment of Parkinson’s.

Ian’s widow, Patricia, also a former MEN journalist, told the paper: “Ian was an inspiration to Parkinsonians.

“He dealt with this cruel condition magnificently, never said ‘why me’, never lost his sense of humour and never stopped fighting it.”

Steve Ford, chief executive of the Parkinson’s UK, added: “Ian was a prominent journalist who lived with Parkinsons and we are delighted to be at the John Rylands, where his archive is housed, to hold a research lecture in his memory.”

It is hoped that the lecture may become an annual event.

Ian started out in journalism at the Formby Times, going on to become editor of the Maghull Herald, and joined the MEN in 1964.

After leaving the MEN, he went on to be director of promotion and development for Greater Manchester Council, before starting his own news agency Newsbeat, and later working as PR manager at North Manchester Health Authority.