Use of killer's image sparks outrage

London -- British leaders say they're shocked that a portrait of 1960s child killer Myra Hindley was used in a promotional video touting London's 2012 Olympic Games.

Hindley, who died in 2002, was imprisoned along with her partner Ian Brady in 1966 for the killings of three children in 1963 and 1964 and they confessed to two others later, the BBC reported Monday. The portrait of Hindley by artist Marcus Harvey was included along with other art pieces in footage of a gallery included in a video produced by the Visit London tourism board.

It was shown during a party at Beijing's London House attended by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and London Mayor Boris Johnson, sparking outrage.

"The use of this image is in extremely poor taste and it should not have been used to promote London," a Brown spokesman said.

A statement released by Visit London said the Hindley piece appeared only "fleetingly" in the video, but added, "If any offense has been caused, we will withdraw it from use with immediate effect."

The portrait, called "Myra," uses childrens' handprints to produce an image of the killer known as the Moors murderer, the BBC said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.