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I looked Rose West in the eye as she blamed her VICTIMS for horrific sexual abuse they suffered, says killer's lawyer

I looked Rose West in the eye as she blamed her VICTIMS for horrific sexual abuse they suffered, says killer's lawyer

The Irish Sun19-05-2025

"VERY controlled, secretive and full of rage" - those were the words used to describe Rose West by a man with insight like no other.
She is considered among Britain's most sadistic serial killers, having tortured and murdered 10 young women,
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Fred and Rose West are known as two of Britain's most evil killers
Credit: Rex Features
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The chilling 'sex dungeon' cellar where the Wests abused some of their victims
Credit: SWNS:South West News Service
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The Wests' former nanny Caroline Owens was victim of their sexual attacks
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
In 1995,
Among them was their 16-year-old daughter Heather, the victim of violent sexual abuse by Fred,
He
Leo recalls: 'Like Fred, in a lot of her interviews she would deflect blame from themselves to the children.
'She would say things happened with Caroline but she was up for it, she wanted it… She says she was exaggerating. She's making a fuss.
'Fred had this really warped idea that it was a father's right to take his daughter's virginity and that Heather was a lesbian. They claimed they just wanted her to have a good marriage and somehow this shocking abuse would facilitate that.'
Most read in The Sun
The harrowing crimes of the couple, who were branded 'the epitome of evil' in court, came to light in 1992 after their daughter Louise, 13, accused Fred of rape and
The case collapsed when eldest daughter Anne Marie, who was abused by them from the age of eight, refused to testify but remarks by the West children raised serious concern with police.
Netflix's Fred & Rose West A British Horror Story launches 14 May
They launched a major investigation after hearing the youngsters were regularly threatened to be buried 'under the patio like their sister Heather', who vanished five years prior.
Collectively the Wests killed at least 12 women and girls - ranging from youngest victim, Rose's stepdaughter Charmaine, eight, to the eldest Fred's ex-wife Catherine 'Reno' Costello, 27.
Eight of the murdered young women were teenagers, some of whom lived with the couple. Others were employed as nannies and some schoolgirls were abducted from the street.
Fred never faced justice for his crimes, killing himself in HMP Birmingham before the couple's trial, and Rose was among the few evil criminals to be sentenced to a whole life term - meaning she will never be released from prison.
Leo who represented Rose for 12 years from 1992, including her appeals, recalled she was a 'sociable' woman, who 'liked a joke' but there was a darker side simmering below the surface.
'She could also be very controlled and secretive sometimes, she would fly into a rage and shriek and spit,' he explained.
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Rose West, pictured after appearing in court in 1995, received a whole life tariff
Credit: Alamy
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The couple's daughter Heather West was killed and buried under the patio
Credit: Shutterstock
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Leo Goatley represented Rose West from 1992
Credit: Alamy
'I recall one witness described her as being 'rough' during a lesbian encounter. Rose insisted she was tender and got very upset.
'Another time, I'd be reading out a statement and asking her, 'Were you with Fred in this van when you abducted Anne Marie?'.
'She'd trill and say 'it's nothing to do with me,' even though she later admitted to it. It was a primitive human response.
'I don't dispute that, in those moments, she would have been capable of extreme violence. She was, of course, complex and there was a maternal side to her too.'
'Horrors locked away'
Leo believes Rose has 'dissociated herself' from her unforgivable crimes and 'locked the horrors of Cromwell Street away in a room of her mind'.
Instead of facing up to what she has done, Rose has donned a new mask - the homely, sewing 'caregiver' in prison, in a bid to distance herself from her evil wrongdoing.
'She'd much rather be the amenable, kindly old lady who likes to spend tea with a vicar's wife who visits behind bars,' he says.
LIVES LOST: The victims of Fred and Rose West
By Raphael Adelugba, Tanyel Mustafa
and
Caroline Peacock
Anna McFall
The nanny of Fred and Rena West's children, McFall was believed to have been murdered in 1967.
She was pregnant when she died, with West believed to have been the father.
Her body was found in June 1994 in a shallow grave.
Fred West denied murdering McFall but he is said to have confided to a visitor after his arrest that he stabbed her following an argument.
This happened before Rosemary West met him.
Charmaine West
With Fred in prison for the theft of car tyres and a vehicle tax disc, Rosemary was left to look after Fred and Rena's daughters Charmaine and Anne Marie.
A neighbour Tracey is said to have found Charmaine tied to a wooden chair with her hands behind a back with Rosemary standing with a large wooden spoon.
Rosemary claimed she'd been taken by her mother, but her skeleton was found at the Midland Road property, hidden and missing bones.
Rena West
Rena is believed to have been murdered by strangulation.
Rosemary was not charged for this murder.
Lynda Gough
Lynda Gough was the first sexually motivated killing conducted by the Wests.
She moved into Cromwell Street in April 1973, having had affairs with several lodgers.
The Wests later claimed she'd been asked to leave after hitting one of their children.
Strangulation and suffocation were the likely causes of death.
Carol Ann Cooper
Cooper was murdered in November 1973, aged just 15.
On the night of November 9, she was allowed to spend the night at her grandmother's house before a doctor's appointment the next morning.
She attended the appointment and then met her boyfriend, before somehow ending up on Cromwell Street.
Her body was found more than twenty years later.
Lucy Partington
A 21-year-old medieval English student at Exeter University, she returned home for Christmas in December 1973.
She left a friend's house in a rush to get the last bus from Cheltenham to Gretton on 27 December, with it believed she was abducted from this bus stop.
She was found more twenty years later, her dismembered body in the cellar of Cromwell Street.
Therese Siegenthaler
A 21-year-old Swiss sociology student at Woolwich Polytechnic.
She had planned to hitchhike to Ireland in Easter 1974. Her family reported her missing having not heard from her for some time.
Prosecution believe she was abducted before being killed, with Fred West later building a fake chimney over her grave.
Shirley Hubbard
Just 15 at the time of her death, Hubbard is believed to have been abducted by the Wests.
Her body was found following an excavation in the concrete and plastic membrane of the cellar floor.
Juanita Mott
In the summer of 1974, Mott moved into 25 Cromwell Street but later went missing when she was living in Newent.
Her body was found in March 1994, 19 years later, with West having concreted over the floor of the cellar.
Shirley Robinson
The first victim buried outside the house, Robinson had an affair with Fred West, and by autumn 1977, she was pregnant with West's child.
It was initially claimed she had moved to Scotland but her body was later found.
When questioned, Rosemary West, herself pregnant with her daughter Tara at the time of the murder, claimed she did not remember her, which was described as 'ludicrous' by the prosecution.
Alison Chambers
The last murder with a sexual motive established. She disappeared just before her 17
th
birthday, having been seen at 25 Cromwell Street throughout the summer.
Her body was buried underneath the patio.
Heather West
The first child born to Fred and Rosemary West, there is no evidence she was aware of the killings.
Sexually abused by her parents and having told friends, she suddenly went missing in 1987, with Rosemary claiming she had gone to Wales to be with a lesbian partner.
The couple would joke to their other children that they would 'end up under the patio like Heather' if they misbehaved.
This, and their changing stories, lead to the search warrants for the property, which lead to their arrests.
This dissociation maintains a chilling remorselessness from the killer, who Leo says he has only seen emotional on a handful of occasions, including after Fred admitted to killing their daughter Heather.
'It was one of the few times I saw Rose in a collapsed, inconsolable state,' he tells us. 'Whether they were tears of self-pity or remorse, I'll never know.
'I have no doubt, now, that she knew Heather was buried in their garden.'
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Police searching for victim remains in the Wests' garden
Credit: Getty
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The 12 young women killed by Fred and Rose West
Another followed her being convicted of 10 counts of murder. Leo recalls she 'was in tears and muttering something about Fred' while sat in her Winchester County Court cell.
'Tacit admission'
However, in a twisted and telling moment, there was no such emotion after discovering her husband had taken his own life - instead, she appeared to be happy.
Leo says: 'She was different…There were mixed emotions but a certain warm glow - a sense of hope that this was the end of the case, as far as she was concerned.'
One of the last times Leo spoke to Rose in early 2003, when he believes her mask slipped because she subtly 'confessed' to her crimes, by acknowledging she would never be released.
She told him she no longer wished to appeal her convictions, leading him to ask: 'Does this mean you're admitting it?'
Leo continued: 'She said, 'No, I just don't think there'll be any life for me outside and I'm going to get on with my life in prison,' which sounded like a strange thing to say to me.
'I wasn't happy with that. I took it as a tacit admission yet she never admitted murder to me.'
Locked up with other lifers, in HMP Durham, Rose was able to keep her head down in prison and enjoy a quiet life but Leo says she had been targeted in an arson attack.
"Rose was on a female wing with lots of other women serving long sentences, women who just wanted to get on and have some peace and quiet, even though they'd been convicted of some serious offences," says Leo.
"About two years after her conviction, in the late nineties, they had women serving shorter sentences coming into the wing.
"Rose was never scared of these women but she wanted her space and to get on with her life. Someone tried to set light to her cell and that was a total disruption for her.
"That was her home so to be moved out of her cell she found distressing."
He also reveals the last time he acted on her behalf was when she asked him to write to the prison governor over sewing and cooking classes that had been withdrawn.
It's believed Rose - who is now in HMP New Hall in Yorkshire - could shed more light on the crimes that took place at the 'House of Horrors' but the killer refuses to assist police.
Read more on the Irish Sun
Leo says: 'Now she has, I believe, neatly compartmentalised her life and is wanting to see out her days in peace. There's no doubt she'll go to the grave with many secrets.'
Leo Goatley's book,

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It was a tragic accident, there's no point torturing both dogs when one wasn't doing anything and the other isn't aggressive, he was just doing his job. 'He was just protecting his home.' Asked if one of the dogs attacked any of his children he might feel differently, Aaron said: 'If I thought the dogs were capable of doing that [a much worse attack] to the children then I wouldn't think twice, I wouldn't be keeping them. 'I know 100 percent those dogs wouldn't do anything to my kids.' He added: 'My stepson winds them up no end and they still don't do anything to him. They lick him. 'This is why I'm going so ballistic because I know my dogs are not dangerous.' 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"S3 (1A) and (1B) of the Dangerous Dogs Act provides an exemption from prosecution for householders in instances where their dog has been dangerously out of control with respect to trespassers in their home. "However, this does not apply to dog attacks on trespassers in gardens, driveways or outbuildings. "The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Bill, Fact Sheet: Dangerous Dogs (part 7) makes clear that this is intended to differentiate between innocently intentioned trespassers or trespassers in or entering a dwelling that are more likely to have a malign intent. "Often, individuals unaware of legal responsibilities around dog ownership face the full weight of prosecution only after tragedy occurs. "Proactive education and tighter regulation around breeding, containment, and training are therefore essential. "As lawyers, we frequently see cases where non-dangerous breeds become involved in catastrophic events, often due to a momentary lapse in containment or unpredictable behaviour. "In these instances, it is important for cases to be dealt with promptly and without excess delay due to the undesirability of keeping dogs kennelled for long periods of time (as expressed in the Home Office Guidance Circular 29/1998). "Dogs that are seized should be assessed immediately to ascertain whether they truly are a danger to the public.' Antonio's mum Amanda told The Sun: "My son was playing with their son and he went to the door while their son got a drink. "The dog ran out and attacked my son. Aaron and Nikki, the parents, weren't even in the house. They was out so maybe if they was in it could of been prevented. "That dog could have gone for anyone passing by... I'm sick of hearing hearsay." She added: "My lad's a very lucky boy." 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The mum-of-three went on to say: "I heard a scream - you know your child's cry. "Antonio was then at the front door, he had blood all over his face and his cheeks were hanging off his face. "I was screaming, asking what's happened and then I rang the ambulance. "Luckily, the dog didn't remove any skin - they just ripped it. "They've managed to put it all back together, they've done a really good job with him." Despite Antonio's injuries, he seems to be doing well, she'd added. She said: "I thought that bringing him home from the hospital, when we've got a dog, might be an obstacle for him but he's been absolutely fine. "The dog knows that he's been injured so she hasn't left his side. "Antonio is doing okay, you can tell that he's shocked by it. "He's still in a lot of pain but he's doing well." In a Facebook post last week, Amanda said: "My son is 4 years old, he plays with my neighbour's son. "...went in the house for some juice and there dog pounced on my son and attacked him he's lucky to still be comments that are being made on the groups trying to justify the dog are sickening. " If them dogs were brought up right they should never of seen a 4 year old boy as a threat! " A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "We're appealing for information and footage after a child suffered a dog bite in Oswaldtwistle. "We were called at shortly after 1.30pm on Monday 26th May following reports that a child had been bitten by a dog on Thwaites Road, Oswaldtwistle. "The child, a four-year-old boy, was taken to hospital with injuries to his leg and face. "Thankfully, those injuries are not life threatening. "Two dogs have been seized by police - a Staffordshire Bull Terrier type and a Pocket Bully Type and the dog owner has been identified and will be spoken to in due course." Which dog breeds are banned in the UK? THERE are specific regulations in place that prohibit certain dog breeds from being owned or bred in the UK. So what are the Which dog breeds are illegal in the UK? People tend to think of large, vicious dogs when they imagine being bitten by one. But the truth is that many types of dogs are known to bite humans, whether provoked or not. However, it's important to remember that just because a breed tends to bite humans, that doesn't mean that they all do. British law determines five breeds of dog are illegal to own, breed, sell or give away. These are an XL Bully, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro. 11 Antonio is now back home and celebrated his birthday on Friday Credit: SWNS

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