Latest news with #CromwellStreet
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Glamour model who had baby girl with the son of serial killers Fred and Rose West is former Premier League WAG
This is the former glamour model who recently had a baby girl with the son of serial killers Fred and Rose West. Emma Bradley ignored concerns from her family to settle down with Stephen West and the pair, who are also engaged, most recently welcomed a baby girl named Eden. But she will never see her grandmother Rose, 71 after Emma revealed that Stephen had cut off all ties with his evil mother who is serving a life sentence in prison for the rape, torture and murder of 10 women and girls. His depraved father Fred killed himself in 1995 while awaiting trial for 12 murders. In social media pictures, Emma and Stephen, 51, can be seen cuddling and kissing while in one she lovingly strokes his face as they announce their engagement in 2020. Other pictures show the couple enjoying a break in Paris and at family gatherings, underlining the deep bond they share. The happiness captured in the images represents a far cry from Stephen's upbringing in the 'House of Horrors' at 25 Cromwell Street where his parents, among Britain's worst serial killers, committed multiple murders and subjected him and his siblings to sickening sexual and physical violence. Rose and Fred West (pictured) collaborated on their heinous crimes but Fred escaped justice when he died by suicide while awaiting trial while Rose was sentence to life imprisonment Former topless model Emma featured in magazines like Nuts and Zoo in her early 20s and reportedly once dated ex-Arsenal striker Paul Merson and singer Dane Bowers before settling down. She also worked at Maxxis Babes, which provides models for car and bike shows around the UK. Emma has since switched careers and after graduating from the University of West England in 2007 with a degree in nursing, now works at Gloucester Royal Hospital and at a leading cosmetics clinic as a surgeon's assistant. She and Stephen live in a modest three-bedroom semi-detached home in Gloucester just five miles from the 'House of Horrors,' with four girls aged one to 17. Two of them are from a previous relationship Emma had. The couple are due to tie the knot in August at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport. But their relationship has caused a huge rift within Emma's family because of Stephen's conviction in 2004 for seven counts of underage sex with a 14-year-old girl. He chillingly admitted at the time: 'There's a bit of dad in me.' The happiness captured in the images of the couple represents a far cry from Stephen's upbringing in the 'House of Horrors' at 25 Cromwell Street where his parents, among Britain's worst serial killers, committed multiple murders and subjected him and his siblings to sickening sexual and physical violence After reports of Rose being in ill health in HMP New Hall, West Yorkshire, Emma told The Sun that neither she or Stephen were aware as they have cut ties with the serial killer. She said: 'Stephen doesn't want to say anything because his main priority is the little ones. He is adamant, at this time of his life he's got a young family to protect.' She said her older children 'don't know about the family history,' and added: 'They are old enough to be aware but too young to understand.' One inside source claimed that Emma's family were 'uncomfortable' with her relationship to Stephen due to his family and 'where he comes from'. They also claimed that Stephen, a former builder, is currently unemployed and drives a Motability Scheme car due to one of his daughter's being disabled. The source said: 'None of us support it. He makes us uncomfortable. It's created a rift in the family.' Stephen has been married twice before his engagement to Emma and has eight children in total. He is also a grandfather. He grew up in the 'House of Horrors' and once revealed in an interview that 'it was important' to cut ties with Rose following her conviction. Rose had blamed Stephen for her and Fred's horrific campaign of rape, torture and murder - which included their killing of his older sister Heather - and said it was his fault that she had ended up behind bars. Stephen added: 'She rang me in 1999 with hate, blaming me for everything. She said I should have died when I was born and that I was a disgrace to the family. 'You don't need enemies when you've got family like that.' At 14 years old, his father Fred told him to dig a hole in his garden that would be used for a fishpond. But it was to be used for his 16-year-old sister's grave. The couple would often tell their other children they would 'end up under the patio like Heather' if they did not behave. Of Fred and Rose's 10 children, only seven are still alive today. Four of them are believed to have moved to other parts of the UK to begin new lives, away from the 'House of Horrors' - but three, including Stephen, have remained in Gloucester and live around ten minutes away from each other.
The Sun
26-05-2025
- The Sun
We live next door to infamous Fred and Rose West ‘House of Horrors' – we're haunted by ghosts of evil couple's victims
A WOMAN living two doors away from where Fred and Rose West carried out most of their infamous murders says she is being haunted by the ghosts of their victims. Maria Lupu claims to have experienced some terrifying paranormal activity in their rented home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester. 10 10 The 39-year-old, speaking the day after a new Netflix documentary series about Britain's most notorious serial killers was launched, lives a few yards from number 25. That end terrace was demolished in 1996 as the authorities sought to discourage so many people from coming to the scene of the horrific events. But while the building has gone and the bones of the Wests' female victims have long since been removed from under its back garden patio and cellar by the police, Maria believes their spirits may remain in the street. She said: 'I do believe in ghosts and stuff. I do think they're stuck in the house. 'Somebody was coming at me in my sleep one night. After that, the cat wouldn't go into the bedroom. 'When we went back in, the clothes' horse had moved from the back of the door to the middle of the bed.' Maria said this happened about two years ago and, separately, her partner told her he had also seen a ghostly figure in the house. She added that, even now, the bedroom is strangely cold and she believes it is linked to the murders that happened so close by. 'So many women died there,' she said. Originally from Romania, Maria moved from her previous home in nearby Cheltenham to Cromwell Street five years ago. She didn't know about the awful crimes that had taken place until she informed her English mother she was moving there and she then told her daughter about the road's horrendous history. Maria said her flat, within a three-storey building, was very cheap to rent at the time - but that the ghostly activity had made her nervous. She added: 'I do want to move away because there's a bad energy here. 'Maybe not straight away but just some time when I can.' Polly Lowthian, who lives in a flat right next to where number 25 was, said her greatest worry about living in Cromwell Street was being haunted by ghosts. 10 10 The 27-year-old said: 'That's what I'm most scared of but, touch wood, nothing has happened to me so far.' Originally from the Forest of Dean, she moved into her new home three weeks ago. She knew about the infamous past of the street but needed somewhere to live in Gloucester to be close to her workplace and friends. Polly said: 'A flat came up. What happened here was years ago now. If it had been nearer the time, I probably wouldn't have come. 'With housing now, you can't be too picky.' 'Hairs on my body stood up' One couple who moved into their flat in Cromwell Street 30 days ago were stunned to be told by The Sun about the murders that took place just across the road from their new home. Lucian Gheorghe and Corina Stan, from Romania, said they had never heard about the notorious serial killers. Lucian said: 'It's good to learn something new about history and places. I like to visit places but this is not an attractive thing.' He added that the hairs on his body stood up when he was told what went on at number 25. One property owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the street had been spruced up a bit since the furore over the Wests in the mid-1990s. The local council had put new railings in but it still had problems like many others in British towns and cities, he said. Graffiti on the walls of two homes and fly-tipped household goods were evident when The Sun was there. Police, in three cars, moved slowly in and out the area as well. Another resident on Cromwell Street, aged 54, was in his early teens when the chilling case happened. He remembers seeing Fred in his working clothes as he was the local builder in the street working in "many houses". He was friends with Fred and Rose' s son Stephen and said it was a "shock" when the mass murders were exposed. He said: "I knew the family, I've lived in this street for 40 years. I knew the son as he was a friend in the street. "The children of the family grew up here and most of us played in the street. "They seemed like a tight-knit family. They would go to the park to play as a family with the kids. "It was a complete shock. At that age you don't think what people might be doing behind closed doors." The man he would play with on the street - Stephen West - was jailed in December 2004 for nine months for sex with a girl of 14. The resident said since the case took place it has had a "massive impact" on the people that still reside on the street. Chrysoula Koutsogranni, 40, said she was not aware of the crimes committed on the 25 Cromwell Street when she moved in four years ago. She said: "I have learnt about it a couple of years ago after Covid when a couple came here and they were asking questions about it and then I went online and I found out. "You can't predict what your neighbour is. You don't know who lives next door - even now someone could be doing something behind closed doors and you wouldn't know. "The area is mostly an immigrant area and one-bed apartments. It is not the best but I've not experienced any real incidents like crime or anything like that." She admitted that despite the horrors that happened in her street she is "not scared" of living on the notorious road. Who were Fred and Rose West? By Holly Christodoulou BEAMING in front of the fake autumn foliage, hand rested lovingly on his wife's shoulder, Fred and Rose West looked like any normal couple. But lurking beneath their plastered-on smiles was a pure evil that continues to horrify the nation. Thirty years ago, Fred and Rose West were arrested - bringing an end to a gruesome crime spree that lay undetected for decades. But even as the pair sat in custody, no one was aware of the true horror buried beneath the garden and in the walls at 25 Cromwell Street. Between them, Fred and Rose West raped, tortured and killed 12 women and girls between 1967 and 1987. The killing spree came to light after the couple's children discussed their sister Heather being "under the patio" with social workers. At first the comments were dismissed as off-hand remarks but by February 1994, there was no trace of Heather and a warrant was obtained to search the family home in Gloucestershire. Fred chillingly told officers his daughter was in the garden but they were searching in the wrong place. He and Rose were arrested on suspicion of murder and police began the grisly task of digging up the back garden.
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Chilling home video shows Fred West and his wife Rose smiling as they cycle in the countryside with their children
Riding bicycles over hilly tracks, wading through rambling streams and with children excitedly running off in different directions, they look like an ordinary family enjoying a day trip to the countryside. Yet these are the home videos of Fred and Rose West - Britain's most notorious and sadistic serial killers. The eerie footage, seen publicly for the first time, features in Netflix 's new three-part documentary which goes behind the scenes to reveal how the depraved couple's horrific crimes were uncovered. The extraordinary family archive appears alongside chilling police footage of the moments West began giving up the secrets of 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. Over a series of visits, West coldly points out where he has hidden the bodies of the vulnerable young women who were held captive, raped and tortured at the infamous address which would become known as the 'House of Horrors'. He couldn't look more relaxed with a cigarette in hand. At times he has a smile on his face or is cracking jokes. It would later emerge that over 20 years the couple murdered at least 12 young women including two of their own children. Nine were dismembered and buried under the cellar and the garden patio at Cromwell Street by builder West. West cheated justice after hanging himself while on remand on January 1 1995. But his voice is heard from beyond the grave in a series of taped police interviews during which he slowly begins to reveal details of his horrific crimes in a chilling matter-of-fact way. The monster at first claimed Rose knew nothing about the crimes and insisted he was solely responsible. But the documentary - called Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story - highlights the dramatic falling out between the couple after Rose snubbed her husband when they appeared in court for the first time four months after the investigation began. The newly uncovered police interviews show how West's tone strikingly changed as he began to believe he was being betrayed by his twisted partner in crime. In one taped interview he said in his distinctive West Country accent: 'You know what Rose is doing now? Distancing me and her. 'See, I'm beginning to wonder, did Rose have any love towards me at all? Or was I somebody there to use all the time? 'I was an easy touch - do as I'm told and not interfere.' Asked by a detective if there was any other person common to the 12 bodies he replied: 'Well, it's obvious there is somebody else. 'The reason I could not tell the truth is because I'm protecting somebody. I can't say it no plainer than that.' He went on to add: 'If I'm to have any chance in this case at all, I've got to go back and tell the truth. Why should I take the rap? 'Rose broke every promise she made to me but I did none of it on my own.' Rose too is heard - in secret recordings from bugging devices police placed in the safe house where she was taken with her two oldest children after West was first arrested while police began digging up the garden at Cromwell Street. In one taped interview, West, speaking with his distinctive West Country accent, lamented how Rose was distancing herself from him Rose West's voice is also heard in secret recordings made by police bugging devices while she was held in a safe house with her two oldest children during the investigation She gives little away but at one point, after learning West was beginning to confess, she is heard saying: 'He's telling her everything. It won't make any difference. You'll never get a confession for something I haven't done.' The voices of the evil killers stand in stark contrast to the sometimes tearful accounts of the victims' loved ones and the police officers and professionals whose lives remain haunted by the couple's crimes. The probe began as a missing persons case in February 1994. Concerns had been raised over the whereabouts of the couple's daughter Heather. Heather, who was born in October 1970, was the couple's first child together. Police were called in after the couple's younger children chillingly began to reveal what had become 'a family joke'. Detective Constable Russ Williams of Gloucester Police said: 'It was alleged by the children that if they misbehaved, they would end up under the patio like their sister Heather.' When first interviewed by Detective Constable Hazel Savage, West laughed the claims off and urged police to 'carry on digging'. But within 24 hours, possibly to deflect officers from discovering other remains, he contacted detectives saying: 'You better take me to the police station. I have killed Heather but you're digging in the wrong place.' He went on to confess he had lost control then strangled his daughter with a piece of electric flex to 'make sure' she was dead. West described how he had cut up Heather's body with a kitchen knife. Outlining the confession his solicitor Howard Ogden said: 'A man is describing murdering and dismembering his daughter. 'It wasn't with floods of tears and distress and anxiety. It was simply a black-and-white set of facts. 'When the tape finished, all of us present in that interview just rose and went to a tiny little tea area, and we just had a group hug. 'Complete strangers, never met one another - silent group hug.' Harrowing footage later shows West in a seemingly cheerful mood as he used his feet to indicate the spot where his daughter was buried. Janet Leach was appointed West's 'appropriate adult' over concerns over his ability to understand the proceedings. Describing the visit she said: 'It was really strange. It was dark. It was raining. 'He was upset about the state of his garden, more so than anything. 'He just sort of kept looking at me and winking as if it was some sort of game.' When she asked him why he had looked at her like that, West hinted at more horrors. Describing another part of the garden he replied mischievously: 'Didn't you see that bone sticking out? It's just by the back door.' In his formal interviews, West continued to insist Heather was the only victim but dropped further hints to Janet, with whom he would confide throughout the investigation. She would go on to become a key prosecution witness in Rose's trial the following year. Tragically, the discovery of Heather's remains was only the beginning. It would later emerge Heather was killed in 1987 and was the last of the couple's known victims. As more bones were uncovered, West admitted to two further killings. He told how remains discovered under the garden patio belonged to Shirley Robinson, an 18-year-old lodger who was eight months pregnant with West's child when he murder her. She was last seen alive in 1978. The third victim, who West knew only as 'Shirley's mate', was Alison Chambers, who had lived in a children's home and disappeared aged 16 in 1979. When their remains were discovered West insisted that was the end of it, telling police: 'You can take it all apart, there ain't nothing else.' But when police began focusing on the Cromwell Street cellar he told Janet and a legal advisor: 'There's a f****** load more.' In a hand-written note to detectives he went on to admit to 'an approx further nine killings'. In another video, West was taken down to the cellar - which had been used as a 'kid's den' as well as a torture chamber - after he had drawn a map for Janet marking the spots where the bodies were buried. When asked by an officer if there were any more bodies other than those indicated, West replied: ''Yeah. Well, I mean, what's one more?' By now, a picture was beginning to emerge of how the couple had preyed on vulnerable young girls and women in order to play out their sexual fantasies. West met Rose in 1969 when she was just 15 and he was 27. Within a month she fell pregnant with Heather. Rose went on to have eight children - some of whom were believed to be fathered by men she had sex with while working as a prostitute. After the couple moved to Cromwell Street, there was a constant stream of young girls, some of whom became lodgers while working for the couple as nannies and doing household chores - as well as satisfying West's depraved lust. A number were runaways while the couple picked up others after trawling around looking for hitchhikers. Investigators concluded West had adapted the shabby three storey semi-detached property to fulfil 'his sexual pleasure'. One room on the middle floor which had its own bar was described as looking like 'the reception room of a seedy hotel' - and was used by Rose when she was having sex with clients. Professor Paul Britton, a forensic psychologist brought in to assist the investigation, told how a flight of stairs led off from the bar area to a bedroom. Examining police footage the professor continued: 'We go from this room up a flight of stairs to a bedroom area. 'On the other side there is a hole in the wall and out of that hole there are cables coming. 'There are microphones and cameras that are run through into the four-poster bedroom, where films and listening can happen.' As police began to try to identify victims, West admitted he would not be able to provide much help. In one interview he said: 'I never actually ever knew their names. 'I didn't want to know their name or make up a name, whatever it was. 'The thing is all these are so mixed up in my mind now, I haven't a clue which is which. 'Yeah, I buried the people, yeah, but I mean it was done quick and a long time ago.' Challenged by DC Savage about having an 'awful smirk on his face' during the interview, West said: 'Every girl I picked up I didn't put in the basement.' Asked where he 'put them' he added laughingly: 'I dropped them off where they wanted to go.' West - described by one expert as 'a cunning man living in a fantasy' said of his victims: 'Each one was their own kinky sex and that's all it was. That's why you probably find it hard, it was their thing they wanted to try, do.' Describing why he carried out the murders he added: 'It was just this urge at the time when they upset me that I went for them - and the whole fear, and this is something that we've got to get into was, the biggest fear that was in me, was Rose finding out I was messing with other women.' Professor Britton said: 'Frederick West seems unmoved by the fact that these people are dead. And what we see are the hallmarks of the sadistic sexual psychopath.' After the horrors off Cromwell Street, police continued to probe missing family members. West was questioned over the disappearance of his first wife Rena Costello who vanished in 1971 aged 26. Footage showed how he went on to take officers to the spot where he had buried her in a field near the Herefordshire village of Much Markle where he had grown up. He later asked officers to return to the scene so he could show them where he buried Ann McFall, a friend of Rena's who had vanished in May 1967 aged 18. It turned out she was West's first known victim and her remains were found with those of their unborn child. The final grim discovery were the remains of Charmaine West who disappeared aged eight in 1971. She was Rena's daughter and her body was discovered under the kitchen foundations at Fred and Rose's former home in Midland Road, Gloucester. Despite his protestations, investigators established she was murdered by Rose in June 1971 while Fred was in prison serving a sentence for theft of car tyres and a vehicle tax disc. Rose too was charged with murder and the couple would not meet until they were reunited at Gloucester Magistrates Court on June 30th 1994. It was clear to onlookers Rose wanted nothing more to do with her husband. Describing the scene at the time a TV reporter who had covered the hearing said: 'When Fred West was escorted into the dock, he leaned forward and touched her shoulder. She didn't acknowledge this gesture. 'There appeared to be no communication between them, Rosemary steadfastly ignoring him. 'Later, when they were taken down, Fred West again tried to lean over and touch his wife's back. This time the prison officer pushed away his hand.' Mr Ogden said in the documentary: 'He imagined that she'd be maybe blowing him a kiss and they might mooch along the bench to be closer in the dock - no.' Rose's lawyer Leo Goatley said: 'The lines were becoming intensely drawn. Fred West's whole situation was falling apart.' DC Williams said of West's dramatic change of tone after the encounter: 'He's starting now to see that this relationship is deteriorating to the point where it may no longer exist - 'Why am I doing this? Why am I taking all the flak?'.' After a dramatic trial at Winchester Crown Court in October 1995, Rose was convicted of all 10 murder charges she faced and was jailed for life. Sentencing Rose, Mr Justice Mantell told her: 'If attention is paid to what I think you will never be released.' Rose, now 71, is serving her sentence in HM Prison New Hall, West Yorkshire. A year after her trial the house in Cromwell Street was demolished.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Families living on road where Fred and Rose West carried out their crimes say area is still plagued by stigma and antisocial behaviour
Residents living on the street where notorious serial killers Fred and Rose West committed their crimes say it is still riddled with stigma and antisocial behaviour. The house of horrors at 25 Cromwell Street was demolished—but for some of those who remain, the emotional and mental scars are as strong as ever. The monsters murdered at least 12 young women and girls between 1967 and 1987. Many of the crimes took place at their home in Gloucester, but all that is left is the space for an alleyway leading into the city centre. But locals say there is still a 'stigma' associated with the street, and feel local authorities 'should have done more' to support those left behind. And fears were also expressed that the street attracts antisocial behaviour and trouble due to its notoriety. Polly Lowthian, 27, working in a supported living home, moved to her house in Cromwell Street earlier this year. Her property is next door to the alleyway where the 'Horror House' was located. She said before moving there she was 'a bit sceptical' but then didn't want to be 'too picky' of where to live. Polly added: 'If it had happened recently I probably wouldn't have moved in but as it happened years ago I think that is probably why I decided to move there. 'There is always going to be stigma around the street because of what happened. 'On this street some people pass and they point the alleyway and be like "there is where Fred West used to live". 'Once you have got a big story obviously people are going to find it a bit scary.' Another resident on Cromwell Street, aged 54, was in his early teens when the chilling case happened. He remembers seeing Fred in his working clothes as he was the local builder in the street working in 'many houses'. He was friends with Fred and Rose's son Stephen West and knew the family. The man said it was a 'shock' when the mass murders were exposed. He said: 'I knew the family, I've lived in this street for 40 years. I knew the son as he was a friend in the street. 'The children of the family we grew up here and most of us played in the street. 'They seemed like a tight-knit family. They would go to the park to play as a family with the kids. It was a complete shock. At that age you don't think what people might be doing behind close doors.' The man he would play with on the street—Stephen West was jailed in December 2004 for nine months for sex with a girl of 14. He added: 'At times I knocked on their door to call for my friend Steve. We used to fix and repair cars in the back. 'Not great things happened to Steve. I suspect he was very close to his dad like I was to my dad. I wonder what he went through.' The resident said since the case took place it has had a 'massive impact' on the people that still reside on the street. He hoped the local authorities did more to support the locals. He said: 'There has been a lot of publicity of it around the world, which is understandable, but I don't think much is being done to support people living in this street. 'There is a lot of antisocial behaviour around the area and there is a stigma attached to it. There is a lot of bad publicity around this area in general. 'I think they have neglected the area - there is trouble and anti social behaviour. 'It has painted the area in a bad light.' Reacting to the documentary in Gloucester today, Morgan Dickenson, 22, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said the new Netflix documentary about the duo was 'good' but 'freaky' as she lives half a mile away from where the murders took place He said most of the properties on the street are now HMOs or bed sits and he will eventually leave the street. The man added: 'These were all family homes at the time. Most of these properties are HMOs, with HMOs it brings a certain area down. There is no community spirit and neighbourhood spirit.' Chrysoula Koutsogranni, 40, who is on universal credit, said she was not aware of the crimes committed on the 25 Cromwell Street when she moved in four years ago. She said: 'I have learnt about it a couple of years ago after Covid when a couple came here and they were asking questions about it and then I went online and I found out. 'You can't predict what your neighbour is. You don't know who lives next door - even now someone could be doing something behind close doors and you wouldn't know. 'The area is mostly an immigrant area and one bed apartments. It is not the best but I've not experienced any real incidents like crime or anything like that.' She admitted that despite the horrors that happened in her street she is 'not scared' of living on that road. She said: 'I don't know what it was back then but it has not been scary for me to live here. I have my whole family here, they live in different places around Gloucester. I don't feel scared about going out at night. 'If you deal with people that do bad stuff you are going to have problems if you are just minding your own business nothing happens.' Netflix's new documentary, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, features previously unseen police footage and unheard audio recordings, providing fresh insights into their case. Reacting to the documentary in Gloucester today, Morgan Dickenson, 22, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said the documentary 'was good' but 'freaky' as she lives half a mile away from where the murders took place. She said: 'I think it sucks that he died before he could actually be brought to trial. It seems like he got away with it because he killed himself. 'When you see other murder documentaries they are like 'oh my god I feel so disgusted that I killed someone and they are under the patio and he was just like 'oh yeah there is a body under the patio'. 'You see on the Gloucester Police page there's girls going missing all the time.' Pictured, the victims, from left to right, Ann McFall, Catherine 'Rena' Costello, Charmaine West, Lynda Gough, Carole Ann Cooper, Lucy Partington, Therese Siegenthaler, Shirley Hubbard, Juanita Mott, Shirley Anne Robinson, Alison Chambers, Heather Wes Juliet Dobell, 21, studying veterinary nursing at University of Gloucestershire said: 'The documentary was so interesting. It took them so long to find him and then do something about it. About Gloucester she said: 'There is a lot of fights, a lot of arguments and a lot of crime going on. 'We don't really leave the house at night - there is a lot of drunk people, people doing drugs.' Derek Rees, 73, a window cleaner, who lives in Gloucester and works in Cromwell Street, said he first remembers meeting Fred when he was working at a pub. He said: 'When I was 16 or 17 Fred didn't use to live here he lived in Midland Road and he used to go to the pub and I was working shift work. 'At them days pub would shut at 10.30pm so my wife used to go over there and get a couple of drinks. She said to me one day before this already happened she said 'I don't know about that Fred West he is a bloody weird git'. 'I remember 12 months before he got caught he went to court for sexual abuse and you know what happened? He got found not guilty. 'When he was at the pub he was like 'I told you so' with a smirk on his face. He said 'I told you I wasn't guilty' and then somebody hit him because they knew what he was like.' Derek said that despite this he was surprised when he got done for the murders. He said: 'If he had got done for rape and all of that I wouldn't have been surprised because that's the kind of bloke he was. 'It was all over the papers - Gloucester was famous for it. In all fairness when you mention Gloucester to people they don't mention the cathedral they say 'oh that bloody Fred place' - it is horrible isn't it.'
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
How the chance to catch Fred and Rose West was MISSED when social workers overlooked a chilling detail
They're known among the most horrific serial killers in the UK, with the pair taking the lives of 12 women and girls between them in their 'house of horrors'. While the crimes of Fred and Rose West of 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, have since come to light, an enquiry has found that social workers missed one key detail that could have led to their arrest two years earlier. It is thought the earliest of Fred's sickening offences started in his younger years when he is thought to have sexually abused his younger sister. But when he met Rose, the pair fed off each other's depraved desires and began a campaign of torture, sexual violence and murder spanning 14 years. Police finally brought Fred and Rose's killing spree to an end by February 1994 when they turned up at Cromwell Street with a search warrant. They were later convicted of the combined murders of 12 women at their home in Gloucester between 1967 and 1987, including their daughter Heather, 16. However, police might have discovered Heather's bones two years earlier had they paid attention to a comment made by one of the West children when being interviewed in August 1992, according to the Cromwell Inquiry. At the time, police and social services had removed the children from their home due to child protection concerns and moved them temporarily to Cowley Manor in Cheltenham. Following the move, social services staff and police interviewed the children, which is when one referred to a family joke of 'Heather being under the patio'. It wasn't until police discovered Heather's bones under the concrete that the true meaning of the sinister 'joke' came to light. The interviews conducted by police and social services took some time, with one lasting one day and a half. During the lengthy interview, a West child made a fleeting remark about the family 'joke'. However, the police officer did not remember the remark and instead focused on their immediate protection concerns. At the time, Heather's whereabouts were only of interest because she could have provided further information on her sibling's safety for the investigation, meaning police did not have concerns about her wellbeing. From then, there was no further mentions of Heather until one year later, in the early summer of 1993, when social workers started to notice the children's comments on the 'joke' and their claims that a patio was laid when Heather went missing. Because the West children made the comments infrequently, staff were initially conflicted on whether to take them literally. However, by August of that year and after further comments, staff became certain that the police should be informed, and so a social worker and County Council legal executive reached out. Police tried to locate Heather, but by early 1994, officers were still unable to find her. Therefore, police decided that witnesses to the children's comments regarding Heather should make formal statements. Together with previous police enquiries, the statements provided the Gloucester Magistrates with sufficient evidence to issue a search warrant, allowing officers to search the West family home for evidence of Heather's location. On February 24, Detective Chief Inspector Terry Moore and Detective Inspector Tony James visited the West home and told Rose that her rear garden was to be searched in connection with the disappearance of Heather. That evening, Fred came home from work after the police officers had left and went to the police station voluntarily, which is where he told officers that he had seen Heather recently in Birmingham. The next day, Fred admitted to police in his home that Heather was in the garden but that they were looking in the wrong place. Police arrested Fred, who admitted to killing Heather but later retracted his statements, and Rose, who did not admit to the crime. On February 26, police found remains of Heather's body in the garden, as well as the remains of a second body. Fred appeared at Gloucester Magistrates' Court two days later, where he was charged with the murder of his daughter. On May 26, Rose was charged with Heather's murder between May 28, 1987, and February 27, 1994. She replied, 'I'm innocent'. Heather, born on October 17, 1970, was the first of Fred and Rose West's victims discovered at 25 Cromwell Street and is widely thought to be her parents' final murder victim. She was the couple's eldest daughter and was sexually abused by her parents throughout her life. Heather complained to friends about the abuse, and her parents killed her to keep her quiet. The teenager had only recently finished her GCSE exams before she vanished. The Cromwell Street victims — some teenagers; all female - were lodgers, nannies, students, hitch-hikers, runaways. They were subjected to brutal sexual assaults by Fred, and sometimes Rose as well. Some were mutilated; many were decapitated. Rose and Fred had eight children during their marriage. None of them had an inkling that their home held such gory secrets until their parents were arrested and charged after the bodies had been exhumed. Fred, it also came to light, had committed at least two further murders alone, while Rose was responsible for killing Fred's stepdaughter Charmaine from his first marriage to Rena, who was also one of Fred's early victims. Fred admitted to this monstrous catalogue of crimes, claiming he'd acted alone. He committed suicide on January 1, 1995, in his cell at Birmingham Prison, where he was being held on remand. Rose has consistently professed her innocence, but the jury at her trial did not believe her. Convicted of ten murders, she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a later order from the Home Secretary that she should never be released.
