15-05-2025
I was in prison with Rose West and know the TRUTH about her jail experience - it's nothing like the lies being told
An inmate who was in jail with Rose West has revealed what Britain's worst serial killer is like behind bars.
West, alongside her late husband Fred, tortured and killed at least nine women between 1973 and 1987, including their eldest daughter Heather.
She was also convicted of the murder of her stepdaughter, eight-year-old Charmaine West, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 for her 'appalling and depraved' crimes.
The 71-year-old was first incarcerated at HMP Bronzefield, before being transferred to HM Prison Low Newton.
In 2019, she was transferred to HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire, where she remains.
Fred died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial.
West's move to HMP New Hall in 2019 came after there were reportedly fears for her safety due to the presence of another serial killer on the premises.
She was transferred after Joanna Dennehy - who was convicted of murdering three men within 10 days in Peterborough - allegedly threatened to kill West.
However, a former inmate who claimed she had been in prison with West dismissed the security concerns and said no one could have gotten near her.
Denise Sullivan, a former inmate, said she had been in prison with West in the past and that no one 'could get near' her as she was so highly guarded
Former inmate Denise Sullivan told The Central Club Podcast in 2023 that West was quiet in prison.
Denise said she had been inmates with West and even 'sent her a Valentine's Day card under her door'.
She added that she often saw West around the prison, including carrying out duties behind the servery, where inmates collect their meals.
'They say you do this to them, you can do that - you can't get anywhere near them,' she said.
'Whenever they walk anywhere, they've got a screw [prison officer] in front of them, behind them, and on each side of them.
'You can't get near them.'
Asked if she could 'tell' that West had committed crimes, Denise described her as a 'wrong 'un'.
'She looked like a wrong 'un,' she said. '[There] was something about her. You knew. The way she looked… you know.'
Denise added that West seemed 'smarmy' and appeared not to care about anything.
'She didn't have a care in the world, she didn't.'
The Central Club Podcast also released a more recent episode featuring former prison governor Vanessa Frake-Harris, who said she looked after West when she was first arrested.
Vanessa, who was awarded an MBE in 2012 for her work in the prison service, said West did not show 'a flicker of emotion' when she was told about Fred's death.
'I always felt that, with Rose West, there was a glimmer in her eye that she felt that because Fred had topped himself, she then wouldn't be charged.
'Because when we looked after her, she was on remand and I felt that she thought, 'Well, Fred's dad, they can't pin anything on me'.
'Of course, she went on to be convicted of the murder and torture of 10 women. So, you know, she quite clearly got that wrong.'
Vanessa went on the describe West as 'manipulative' and as having 'no empathy', adding: 'As all psychopaths are.'
'To look at her, you'd think butter wouldn't melt.
'She was obviously down the segregation unit because she couldn't go in the general population.
'The risks were far too high.'
Prior to her move to HMP New Hall, West reportedly enjoyed a 'middle class' life in prison, where she was said to have spent her time baking cakes, taking on gym and yoga classes, and wearing the latest fashion from catalogues when given the chance.
She also reportedly had her own en-suite cell, decorated with curtains and a 'fluffy rug', as well as a coffee machine, TV and radio.
Sources told the Daily Mail that West would offer haircuts to other inmates, after she took a hairdressing course, and did their make-up to give them 'a bit of a boost'.
West is not in contact with any of her surviving children, having cut ties with them completely in 2006.
Of the 10 children West and Fred shared, seven remain.
