Kathleen Richards, now 65, has broken her silence about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of serial killer Fred West while living as a teenage lodger at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. In a new memoir, Under Their Roof, she details how West assaulted her multiple times, culminating in an attack in 1979 when she woke to find him on top of her. She managed to escape that day, but kept the abuse secret for nearly 50 years.
Richards gave key evidence at Rose West's 1995 trial, which helped secure her conviction for 10 murders, but she never disclosed what Fred West had done to her. She says she felt unable to tell police or family, and only now feels ready to share her story. The memoir also explores her childhood in Dublin, where she was abused by a factory caretaker and her grandfather, who paid her a penny for sexual acts.
Growing up in poverty with strict, neglectful parents, Richards was the fourth of ten children and often went hungry. She was beaten and underloved, and at school was nicknamed 'Smelly' due to urine-soaked clothes. Her only toy was a one-legged doll her father found at a dump. She says the early abuse made her vulnerable to later predators, including West.
Richards now lives in England and is supported by her daughter Hannah. She describes her survival as a 'fluky' triumph of good over evil, but acknowledges the lasting trauma. 'I felt like the walls were closing in. All I could see was Fred West’s face,' she recalls. Her book aims to shed light on how abusers groom victims and why some people are repeatedly targeted.
