A book about serial killers written by the Moors murderer Ian Brady will now be published, after a ban was overturned yesterday following a high court hearing.

Lawyers acting for Ashworth hospital on Merseyside agreed to lift the temporary injunction which had prevented The Gates of Janus: serial killing and its analysis, being published and distributed in Britain.

The book had been due to go on sale in November in Britain and America, but the hospital authorities had wanted to check its contents to ensure that patient confidentiality had not been breached.

At the high court yesterday Mr Justice Henriques agreed to discontinue the action. After the hearing Ashworth hospital said: "Having seen the book, there is no breach of confidentiality nor anything which prevents the hospital carrying out its statutory function as provider of high security services for mentally disordered patients in the NHS."

The book was originally written by Brady under a pseudonym with the help of the criminologist Colin Wilson, who befriended the serial killer. Brady eventually agreed to have his name on it.

Mr Wilson said that if the book were to be distributed it would undoubtedly lift Brady's spirits. He has been on hunger strike for two years and has been kept alive against his will, by being force-fed by the hospital authorities.

In his book he makes no mention of the Moors murders, but analyses the psychology of 11 serial killers including Ted Bundy, the American who raped and killed 30 women in the 1970s, and the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.

His analysis of killers is preceded by chapters on the psychology and sociology of crime and the attitude of society towards the criminal.

Brady's former lawyer Benedict Birnberg said that an advance of about $5,000 (£3,420), plus the royalties, would be used to support Brady's elderly mother, Margaret.

But the Victims of Crime Trust is urging bookshops in Britain not to stock the title. Its director, Norman Brennan, said the families of Brady's victims were distraught that the book was being published.

Brady and Myra Hindley were jailed for life in 1966 for the murders of Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans. Brady was also convicted of the murder of 12-year-old John Kilbride.