Latest news with #HeatherWest
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing
IBM (IBM) on Tuesday said it is building the world's first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors. The computer, called Starling, is set to launch by 2029. The quantum computer will reside in IBM's new quantum data center in upstate New York and is expected to perform 20,000 more operations than today's quantum computers, the company said in its announcement Tuesday. Starling will be 'fault tolerant,' IBM said, meaning it would be able to perform quantum operations for things like drug discovery, supply chain optimization, semiconductor design, and financial risk analyses without the errors that plague quantum computers today and make them less useful than traditional computers. The news comes a day after IBM stock hit an all-time high of $273.27 on Monday. Shares are up more than 60% over the past year, more than the S&P 500's (^GSPC) roughly 12% gain. While IBM has been involved in the quantum computing space since 1981, Big Tech companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) have been working to gain a foothold in the burgeoning market, as well as a plethora of smaller quantum companies like D-Wave (QBTS) and IonQ (IONQ). Microsoft and Amazon unveiled new quantum computing chips in February. Google released a quantum computing chip called Willow in December, saying the technology "paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer." The announcement sent shares of its parent company, Alphabet, up 5% the same day. Once developed, useful quantum computers such as Starling would solve problems that would take 'classical' computers billions of years. Both AI and traditional computers are 'classical' computers that rely on linear algebra, whereas quantum computers rely on quantum mechanics and advanced mathematics, making them more useful for solving certain problems in fields such as cybersecurity, cryptography, and chemistry. IDC quantum analyst Heather West said IBM's Starling is a 'significant' development for the industry, which she expects to grow to $8.6 billion by 2028. 'We've seen these incremental steps towards being able to deliver a scaled quantum computing system,' West told Yahoo Finance in an interview. 'We're finally moving from just small steps — [a] small finding here, a small engineering breakthrough there — and now putting it all together to get this larger system, Starling.' Unlike traditional computers that use bits or series of 1s and 0s, quantum machines use qubits. Qubits are a function of quantum mechanics and, rather than being expressed as a 1 or 0, can exist as both at the same time, allowing for far more processing capabilities. But qubits are fragile and prone to producing errors. Worse, the more qubits used in an equation, the more errors they introduce. Quantum computers use error correction codes to detect and correct their errors. Starling will have the ability to run large-scale quantum operations without error, IBM said, because the company has devised a new error correction code. The company says this will allow it to scale the computers significantly without making them less accurate. Google also said it achieved this feat with its Willow chip in late 2024. Google uses an error correction code called 'surface code,' but it requires the company to use tons of qubits to perform quantum operations, taking up more physical space. IBM will use a code called qLDPC requiring its quantum computers to use fewer qubits. '[Using qLDPC] allows error correction in a much faster, much more robust way so that you can scale the system … quite a bit better, actually, than you could before,' Gartner analyst Mark Horvath told Yahoo Finance. 'Surface code and qLDPC are kind of doing the same thing with error correction. It's just that qLDPC does it a lot more efficiently,' he explained. 'This will be a real advantage,' Horvath continued. 'Everybody else is going to have to license that technology if they want to use it or try to invent it on their own, which would be expensive." Meanwhile, Horvath expects 'useful' quantum computers will arrive within the next five years. Tech CEOs have previously projected longer timelines. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said in January that useful quantum computing was decades away, which sent quantum stocks tumbling. Huang later walked back his comments during Nvidia's 'Quantum Day" in March. Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @ Email her at Daniel Howley contributed reporting.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing
IBM (IBM) on Tuesday said it is building the world's first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors. The computer, called Starling, is set to launch by 2029. The quantum computer will reside in IBM's new quantum data center in upstate New York and is expected to perform 20,000 more operations than today's quantum computers, the company said in its announcement Tuesday. Starling will be 'fault tolerant,' IBM said, meaning it would be able to perform quantum operations for things like drug discovery, supply chain optimization, semiconductor design, and financial risk analyses without the errors that plague quantum computers today and make them less useful than traditional computers. The news comes a day after IBM stock hit an all-time high of $273.27 Monday. Shares are up more than 60% over the past year, more than the S&P 500's (^GSPC) roughly 12% gain. While IBM has been involved in the quantum computing space since 1981, Big Tech companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) have been working to gain a foothold in the burgeoning market, as well as a plethora of smaller quantum companies like D-Wave (QBTS) and IonQ (IONQ). Microsoft and Amazon unveiled new quantum computing chips in February. Google released a quantum computing chip called Willow in December, saying the technology "paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer." The announcement sent shares of its parent company, Alphabet, up 5% the same day. Once developed, useful quantum computers such as Starling would solve problems that would take 'classical' computers billions of years. Both AI and traditional computers are 'classical' computers that rely on linear algebra, whereas quantum computers rely on quantum mechanics and advanced mathematics, making them more useful for solving certain problems in fields such as cybersecurity, cryptography, and chemistry. IDC quantum analyst Heather West said IBM's Starling is a 'significant' development for the industry, which she expects to grow to $8.6 billion by 2028. 'We've seen these incremental steps towards being able to deliver a scaled quantum computing system,' IDC analyst Heather West told Yahoo Finance in an interview. 'We're finally moving from just small steps — [a] small finding here, a small engineering breakthrough there — and now putting it all together to get this larger system, Starling.' Unlike traditional computers that use bits or series of 1s and 0s, quantum machines use qubits. Qubits are a function of quantum mechanics and, rather than being expressed as a 1 or 0, can exist as both at the same time, allowing for far more processing capabilities. But qubits are fragile and prone to producing errors. Worse, the more qubits used in an equation, the more errors they introduce. Quantum computers use error correction codes to detect and correct their errors. Starling will have the ability to run large-scale quantum operations without error, IBM said, because the company has devised a new error correction code. The company says this will allow it to scale the computers significantly without making them less accurate. Google also said it achieved this feat with its Willow chip in late 2024. Google uses an error correction code called 'surface code,' but it requires the company to use tons of qubits to perform quantum operations, taking up more physical space. IBM will use a code called qLDPC requiring its quantum computers to use fewer qubits. '[Using qLDPC] allows error correction in a much faster, much more robust way so that you can scale the system … quite a bit better, actually, than you could before,' Gartner analyst Mark Horvath told Yahoo Finance. 'Surface code and qLDPC are kind of doing the same thing with error correction. It's just that qLDPC does it a lot more efficiently,' he explained. 'This will be a real advantage,' Horvath continued. 'Everybody else is going to have to license that technology if they want to use it or try to invent it on their own, which would be expensive." Meanwhile, Horvath expects 'useful' quantum computers will arrive within the next five years. Tech CEOs have previously projected longer timelines. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said in January that useful quantum computing was decades away, which sent quantum stocks tumbling. Huang later walked back his comments during Nvidia's 'Quantum Day" in March. Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @ Email her at Daniel Howley contributed reporting.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM just took a 'significant' step toward useful quantum computing
IBM (IBM) on Tuesday said it is building the world's first large-scale quantum computer capable of operating without errors. The computer, called Starling, is set to launch by 2029. The quantum computer will reside in IBM's new quantum data center in upstate New York and is expected to perform 20,000 more operations than today's quantum computers, the company said in its announcement Tuesday. Starling will be 'fault tolerant,' IBM said, meaning it would be able to perform quantum operations for things like drug discovery, supply chain optimization, semiconductor design, and financial risk analyses without the errors that plague quantum computers today and make them less useful than traditional computers. The news comes a day after IBM stock hit an all-time high of $273.27 Monday. Shares are up more than 60% over the past year, more than the S&P 500's (^GSPC) roughly 12% gain. While IBM has been involved in the quantum computing space since 1981, Big Tech companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) have been working to gain a foothold in the burgeoning market, as well as a plethora of smaller quantum companies like D-Wave (QBTS) and IonQ (IONQ). Microsoft and Amazon unveiled new quantum computing chips in February. Google released a quantum computing chip called Willow in December, saying the technology "paves the way to a useful, large-scale quantum computer." The announcement sent shares of its parent company, Alphabet, up 5% the same day. Once developed, useful quantum computers such as Starling would solve problems that would take 'classical' computers billions of years. Both AI and traditional computers are 'classical' computers that rely on linear algebra, whereas quantum computers rely on quantum mechanics and advanced mathematics, making them more useful for solving certain problems in fields such as cybersecurity, cryptography, and chemistry. IDC quantum analyst Heather West said IBM's Starling is a 'significant' development for the industry, which she expects to grow to $8.6 billion by 2028. 'We've seen these incremental steps towards being able to deliver a scaled quantum computing system,' IDC analyst Heather West told Yahoo Finance in an interview. 'We're finally moving from just small steps — [a] small finding here, a small engineering breakthrough there — and now putting it all together to get this larger system, Starling.' Unlike traditional computers that use bits or series of 1s and 0s, quantum machines use qubits. Qubits are a function of quantum mechanics and, rather than being expressed as a 1 or 0, can exist as both at the same time, allowing for far more processing capabilities. But qubits are fragile and prone to producing errors. Worse, the more qubits used in an equation, the more errors they introduce. Quantum computers use error correction codes to detect and correct their errors. Starling will have the ability to run large-scale quantum operations without error, IBM said, because the company has devised a new error correction code. The company says this will allow it to scale the computers significantly without making them less accurate. Google also said it achieved this feat with its Willow chip in late 2024. Google uses an error correction code called 'surface code,' but it requires the company to use tons of qubits to perform quantum operations, taking up more physical space. IBM will use a code called qLDPC requiring its quantum computers to use fewer qubits. '[Using qLDPC] allows error correction in a much faster, much more robust way so that you can scale the system … quite a bit better, actually, than you could before,' Gartner analyst Mark Horvath told Yahoo Finance. 'Surface code and qLDPC are kind of doing the same thing with error correction. It's just that qLDPC does it a lot more efficiently,' he explained. 'This will be a real advantage,' Horvath continued. 'Everybody else is going to have to license that technology if they want to use it or try to invent it on their own, which would be expensive." Meanwhile, Horvath expects 'useful' quantum computers will arrive within the next five years. Tech CEOs have previously projected longer timelines. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said in January that useful quantum computing was decades away, which sent quantum stocks tumbling. Huang later walked back his comments during Nvidia's 'Quantum Day" in March. Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @ Email her at Daniel Howley contributed reporting.
The Sun
03-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
Curse of Fred & Rose West's children – from tragic suicide to paedo son who chillingly said ‘I have a bit of dad in me'
THEY grew up in the house of horrors where their twisted parents sexually tortured and murdered young women - including their own sister. The children of Fred and Rose West lived with the threat that if they misbehaved they could end up buried under the patio like their sister, Heather, while the girls also had to fend off the disgusting sexual advances of their dad. 14 14 14 14 The couple's evil crimes were only uncovered when the traumatised children told teachers about Heather's gruesome grave, sparking a police search that uncovered nine bodies buried in the garden and cellar of 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. The rapist and serial killer couple shared ten children in total - including five they had together. Charmaine and Anne-Marie were Fred's daughters from his first marriage, then there were Heather, Mae, Tara, Louise, Rosemary Jr, Lucyanna, Stephen and Barry. Three of these children were conceived with clients Rose slept with while working as a prostitute, while Charmaine and Heather were killed by their parents after enduring years of abuse. The surviving siblings have felt the curse of the Wests' depraved crimes over the years, as they struggled to come to terms with the lasting impact of their warped childhood. Fred committed at least 12 murders and killed himself in January 1995 while on remand in prison. Rose was convicted of ten murders in November 1995 and sentenced to ten life terms with a whole life order. Now, after The Sun revealed their paedophile son Stephen has had his eighth child - a daughter with his former glamour model fiancée Emma Bradley - we look at where the troubled West children are now. Anne-Marie Anne-Marie was Fred's second daughter from his first marriage to Catherine Costello, known as Rena. Her mother and older sister Charmaine were both murdered by the Wests. Anne-Marie is the oldest surviving child of the family and she was the only one of her siblings to testify about the abuse they suffered at Rose and Fred's hands in court. In 1972, when Anne-Marie was eight years old, she was restrained and raped by Fred, while Rose watched and actively encouraged the abuse, even forcibly undressing her step-daughter. After this first assault, Rose — who was sexually abused by her own father — allegedly told Anne-Marie: 'I'm sorry. Everybody does it to every girl. It's a father's job. Don't worry, and don't say anything to anybody.' From the age of 13, Anne-Marie was forced into prostitution, telling clients who visited the house - where Rose was already selling sex - that she was 16. Anne-Marie ran away from home in 1979 when she was 15. She later changed her name to Anne-Marie, and married husband Philip Davis. She later wrote a book about her ordeal at the hands of her parents called Out of the Shadows. Now aged 61, she still lives in Gloucester but has sadly struggled with her mental health for years. Last month her husband told the Daily Mail that she was estranged from her siblings despite them living in close proximity. 'It's the siblings who live with the misery and pain of what went on in that house and the trauma is probably too much for them to have any contact," he said. "Even though some of them live near each other, they don't speak or see each other because that only opens up old wounds for them." Mae West 14 14 14 Shortly after Mae was born in 1972, Rose started selling sex from an upstairs room at their Cromwell Street home, meaning Mae always grew up with a string of strangers coming in and out of the house. Mae also suffered physical abuse at the hands of her mother, and was sexually abused by Fred. After her parents' arrest, Mae initially denied that she'd been sexually abused, but later wrote about it in her 2018 memoir, Love as Always. She also detailed her struggle to come to terms with the crimes her parents committed. "Knowing your parents are regarded by most people as evil beyond belief is incredibly hard to live with, especially when your own experience of them has been more complicated and you've seen a side to them which makes them more than simply monsters," she wrote. "Both of them had a side which seemed, at times at least, like other people. Mum could be tender and gentle with very young children; she had a sense of humour. Dad could be friendly and make us laugh.' Even after Rose was convicted of 10 murders and sentenced to life in prison, Mae still believed she was innocent and continued to write to her and visit her in prison. She told That's Life magazine: 'As the years passed though, I realised how controlling and manipulative Mum was. She'd been dubbed the most evil woman who had ever lived. 'I've read about Stockholm syndrome, where a person can become emotionally dependent on the person who is holding them hostage. I realised I was an emotional hostage to Mum. Now we no longer speak.' Mae is now married and has two children, Amy and Luke. After Luke was born she became a recluse, terrified to leave the house in case she was recognised as a West. But with the help of therapy she has come to terms with her past and has a job in retail. Stephen West 14 Stephen, now 51, lives in Gloucestershire with his former glamour model fiancée Emma Bradley just a few miles away from his childhood home, the Cromwell Street house of horrors. Stephen may have been the first person Fred confided in about his crimes. On the morning police began searching their infamous 25 Cromwell Street home, Fred reportedly told his son: 'Look son, look after mum and sell the house… I've done something really bad. I want you to go to the papers and make as much money as you can.' Later, while in custody, Fred made chilling admissions to Stephen, including the horrifying revelation that as a child, the young boy had unknowingly helped dig the graves of his father's victims. Stephen recalled: 'He [Fred] said to me: 'Can you remember helping me dig those holes in the garden when you were a kid?' I said I couldn't remember, but he said: 'We did it together, you know.' Then he said: 'That's where the girls were found, in the exact holes.'' Stephen struggled mentally and attempted suicide in 2002. Two years later, he was sentenced to nine months in prison after admitting to seven counts of having underage sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 20. He reportedly once remarked: 'There's a bit of my dad in me.' Sources said Stephen and fiancée Emma are planning to tie the knot in August at the posh Celtic Manor hotel in Newport - against her family's wishes. One family insider told The Sun: 'None of us support it. He makes us uncomfortable.' Stephen, who is a grandad, has been married twice before and now has eight children. The former builder is believed to be out of work and living on benefits, driving a motability car he gets for one of his daughters, who is disabled. Last month he told the Daily Mail that most of the West children are estranged, explaining, "We don't have anything to do with each other. I don't speak to my siblings and there are no large happy family get-togethers. Too much has gone on. It's probably too painful for us." Barry West 14 14 14 Born in 1980, Barry was one of the West's younger children and claimed to have seen his parents murder his sister Heather when he was just seven years old. He said: 'I heard my mum slap her, then I looked through the crack and saw my dad walk round behind her and put his leg out. Then he grabbed her neck and tripped her over. 'She went on to the floor. I could see her just a few feet away. Then my mum just booted her. 'She was kicking and kicking her and calling her a s**g. My dad still had her by the throat.' He later branded his mother a 'psychopath' and said: 'I was happy when my dad committed suicide and now I think they should put my mum in a room with all the parents of the people she helped murder so they could tear her to pieces.' Who are the UK's worst serial killers? THE UK's most prolific serial killer was actually a doctor. Here's a rundown of the worst offenders in the UK. British GP Harold Shipman is one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. He was found guilty of murdering 15 patients in 2000, but the Shipman Inquiry examined his crimes and identified 218 victims, 80 per cent of whom were elderly women. After his death Jonathan Balls was accused of poisoning at least 22 people between 1824 and 1845. Mary Ann Cotton is suspected of murdering up to 21 people, including husbands, lovers and children. She is Britain's most prolific female serial killer. Her crimes were committed between 1852 and 1872, and she was hanged in March 1873. Amelia Sach and Annie Walters became known as the Finchley Baby Farmers after killing at least 20 babies between 1900 and 1902. The pair became the first women to be hanged at Holloway Prison on February 3, 1903. William Burke and William Hare killed 16 people and sold their bodies. Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty in 1981 of murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven others between 1975 and 1980. Dennis Nilsen was caged for life in 1983 after murdering up to 15 men when he picked them up from the streets. He was found guilty of six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in jail. Fred West was found guilty of killing 12 but it's believed he was responsible for many more deaths. He tragically died of a suspected overdose in 2020, aged just 40, while he was living in a supported hostel for adults coming out of rehab or prison. Journalist Howard Sounes, who wrote a book on the depraved couple, met Barry and had stayed in touch. He said Barry was tormented by his childhood. He said: 'He was totally haunted by his childhood. How do you overcome being the son of Fred and Rose West? 'The whole West story is littered with these really tragic stories, there was a lot of collateral of the West murder case.' Tara West Tara was born of Rose West's prostitution and her biological father was one of Rose's clients. Tara, now 47, was named after the Tara Hotel in Gloucester, which Rose frequented with her clients. In 1992, she was taken into care and forbidden contact with her parents or her older siblings. She is now believed to be married and living in the north of England under a different name. Louise West Louise, now 46, was also taken into foster care as a child and is now thought to be living in the north of England. She is believed to have intermittent contact with some of her sisters. Rosemary Jr. and Lucyanna Both Rosemary Jr, 42, and Lucyanna, 41, were fathered by clients of Rose. They too had their names changed when taken into foster care in 1992 and have remained private under their new identities. 14 14 14
The Sun
02-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I played dress up in clothes worn by my parents Fred & Rose West's victims – they killed my sister & made us watch porn
MAE West recalls Christmas and birthdays being a special time as a child, one where her family finally felt normal as her mum baked 'superb' cakes adorned with sugary icing. But once the special occasions were over, the darkness fell over Fred and Rose West 's home as their eldest surviving daughter, Mae, reveals. 12 Since the serial killer couple were locked up in 1995, Mae, now 53, has tried to live a life that resembles some normality away from the sick killers she called mum and dad. Rose West was sentenced to ten life sentences after helping her husband Fred West embark on a murder spree of at least 12 women in the 70s and 80s in Gloucester - two of the victims being their own children, Charmaine and Heather West. While Rose has continuously protested her innocence, Fred West escaped justice when he killed himself while on remand. Now 30 years on from being sent to HMP New Hall, The Sun revealed that Rose, 71, who changed her name to Jennifer Jones in 2020, is becoming increasingly isolated and frail. (You can read our exclusive on Rose West's grim prison life HERE) A source told the Sun this week: 'She's in a disabled room now because she can barely walk." 'No one talks to her because everyone knows who she is and what she did, even if she has changed her name," they added. Now, Rose is left entirely on her own after she cut her oldest daughter, Mae, out of her life for questioning her sick crimes, leading her to tell all about the woman she once called mum. HOUSE OF HORRORS Mae grew up at 25 Cromwell Street and is the oldest surviving daughter of the pair, who had eight children between them. And she has candidly revealed what it was really like growing up with serial killers as parents. By the time she was born, the two had already murdered her half-sister Charmaine and her dad's previous wife, Catherine "Rena" West. Netflix documentary delves into the crimes of Fred and Rose West with new testimony and footage She was never read a bedtime story, or tucked in by her parents, toys were scarce in the home, so they often made up their own games - wearing their parents' victims' clothes for fancy dress, which they found while locked in the cellar at night. By the age of seven, Mae suffered from extreme sexual and physical abuse at their hands, with her own dad forcing her and her older sister Heather to watch pornographic content with him. It was a future she was warned about by her older half-sister Anne Marie. 'One day, I went swimming with Anne Marie and she told me she'd been sexually abused by Mum and Dad," Mae, who lives in the West Country with her husband and two kids says. It wasn't unusual for us kids to come across dildos, vibrators and other sex toys just lying around the house. It amused Dad. Mae West 'She said it had gone on for years and warned me they might try to do the same to me,' she wrote in her 2018 book, Love As Always, Mum. It was even reported that sick Fred hoped to impregnate the girls, telling his daughters: 'I made you; I can do what I like with you.' 'Dad didn't make any secret of the fact he sometimes filmed [Rose] having sex' with random men while Fred hid in the wardrobe, Mae told the Daily Mail. 'I used to find it completely repulsive. We always knew about their interest in kinky sex. They never tried to hide it from us. 'They'd leave porn magazines lying around the house, along with bondage gear: masks, rubber suits, whips and the like. 'It wasn't unusual for us kids to come across dildos, vibrators and other sex toys just lying around the house. It amused Dad, more than anything, to see how we reacted.' 12 With Fred and Rose West exposing their children to sex at a young age, as a teenager, Mae was often asked to help Rose, who became a sex worker, book and schedule her clients who would come to the home, even when the kids were around. Rose also abused her daughter, once dragging a knife along her ribcage. She and her siblings lived in fear of their parents' threats that they would end up "under the patio" like their sister, Heather. But Mae does recall there was the occasional respite from the torture they endured. 'We ate meals and watched TV together, celebrated birthdays and Christmas, and went on family holidays,' Mae wrote in her book. 'Mum used to bake superb cakes. We'd always have a fantastic iced sponge for our birthdays and an equally lovely fruit cake laced with booze at Christmas time. She always made a real effort for special occasions and Christmas Day was the one day we really did feel like any other family.' 12 Killed by depravity - Fred and Rose West's known victims 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 Rose West met him. Charmaine West With Fred in prison for the theft of car tyres and a vehicle tax disc, Rose was left to look after Charmaine and Anne Marie. The former just eight-years-old, was Fred West's stepdaughter from his previous marriage. A neighbour Tracey is said to have found Charmaine tied to a wooden chair with her hands behind her back with Rose standing with a large wooden spoon. Rose claimed she'd been taken by her mother, but her skeleton was found at the Midland Road property, hidden and missing bones. Rena West Fred's first wife Rena is believed to have been murdered by strangulation. Rose 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, Lucy 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 hitch-hike 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 his child. It was initially claimed she had moved to Scotland but her body was later found. When questioned, Rose 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 Rose 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 her mum 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, led to the search warrants for the property, and subsequently to their arrests. LOCKED AWAY Growing up, Mae and her siblings would often be locked in the cellar of their home at night with a bucket to use as a toilet. Throughout this time, Fred and Rose invited lodgers, predominantly women, to stay in the home. Many of these women were subjected to horrific torture and rape before eventually being killed and buried under the house. They also enticed young women into their car with Rose's presence in the front seat used as a way to make them feel safe before taking them home to meet the same fate. Mae recalls that there was a large toy box that was locked in the cellar that they would play on to keep them entertained, later she realised it was used to store the mutilated bodies of their victims. "I remember there was a chest down there, a sort of toy box, and we'd jump onto it and pretend it was a boat while we waited for Mum to come and let us out. There was always a disgusting smell that came with it, but we didn't have the faintest idea what was the cause of it," Mae recalls. "It is strange and chilling to think about that game now – now that I know there really were horrors under that floor - police found human remains hidden in the house's cellar and under paving slabs in the garden." The children also found a box of clothes down there which they used to play dress up, she later realised they were the clothes of the victims. 12 FAMILY TIES Despite the sexual abuse, Mae says Fred was often the nicer parent to be around. While she and her sisters slept fully clothed and took turns guarding the bathroom for each other from Fred, she said it was her mum they truly feared. She was the one who terrified us. Mae Rose "Extraordinary as it sounds, aside from the sexual abuse, in many ways he'd been quite kind and even funny," she says. "He'd sometimes intervene when Mum punished us with an 'Ease off, Rose!' - she was the one who terrified us." While many assume Rose was groomed by Fred, who was 12 years her senior, Mae said her mum "wore the trousers in their marriage". Mae's oldest sister Heather disappeared at the age of 17, a year after confessing to school staff and friends what was going on at home, but nothing was done to protect her. The siblings were told she had taken a job in Torquay, which she had previously been rejected from. In reality, Fred and Rose West had murdered their own daughter and buried her underneath the family home. Fred would even 'joke' that, should the kids ever misbehave, they would 'end up under the patio like Heather'. But Fred and Rose West failed to keep their stories the same about where Heather had gone, which ultimately led to them being caught. Their younger daughter, Louise, came forward to a friend about the sexual abuse Fred put her through, which spurred the friend's mum to call the police. 12 DIGGING THE TRUTH UP Police eventually caught up with the pair's sick actions thanks to their children telling people their sister was under the porch, and on February 25, 1994 began excavating the house. They soon realised the joke of going "under the patio" was in fact a threat when they found a leg bone in the garden. Further excavation work led police to nine more bodies found buried under the house - with two more victims found in a field in Kempley. When Fred was questioned by police, he chillingly revealed there were at least 20 more victims that the couple had killed across the country. Mae was 20 when the police came knocking and had moved out of the family home by this point, she said at first, she was too stunned to believe it was real. Mae moved out of the family home in 1990 at the age of 18 after getting a job as a secretary and signed a mortgage with a partner. Four years later, her parents were jailed for multiple murders. She attempted to have contact with Rose while she was in prison, but says the relationship was cut off by her mum when Mae probed her on the murders. Mae continued: 'She claimed that Dad influenced and controlled her and that she'd made a pact to stay with him as long as he didn't harm us kids. 'But it started to sound implausible. If that was the case, why didn't she leave when Heather went ' missing '? You wouldn't just accept that your daughter had disappeared, would you? And why would Mum collude in the sexual abuse? When I started to think about it all, doubts crept in.' It was after Mae quizzed Rose about Heather that Rose decided to cut off all contact with her daughter. 'And I watched her squirm. I thought, 'She's not going to give me an honest answer for all her promises. And she never has done. You never got straight answers. "It makes it worse for the families of victims because she is the only one alive now who knows the truth — and yet she hasn't told it." 12 LIFE NOW While Mae has mostly remained out of the spotlight, she decided to share her story with her tell-all book in 2018. She's also gone on to live a relatively normal life with a husband and has two adult children, and lives in the rural West country. Despite their horrific childhood, Mae has been able to keep a relationship with her siblings. They say that families are broken up by these things, but we've stuck together. Mae West 'We've all coped in different ways,' she told the Daily Mail. 'We're very close. I talk to my sister Louise every day on the phone. There are very few people you can go to who share our background. 'Even in our own family, everyone has had a different experience, and as much as people try to, they can't understand. They just don't know what we've been through, do they? 'They say that families are broken up by these things, but we've stuck together. Actually, we're very lucky.'
