Charlotte West, who was teased at school for sharing a surname with serial killers Fred and Rose West, once pretended Fred was her uncle to make the bullying stop. The ruse worked, but it created an awkward situation when Fred took his own life in 1995.
Playground taunts over infamous surname
Charlotte, who was seven at the time, was targeted by schoolmates who asked how many bodies were in her garden and called her Fred during games of chase, or sometimes Heather, the couple's first victim. She also looked like Wednesday Addams, something she was already picked on for before the House of Horrors hit the news.
Speaking in 2022, Charlotte told the Daily Star: "Kids used to say, 'Ugh, you are related to Fred West' and they would say, 'Oh I wouldn't go to your house for a barbecue'. They also asked how many bodies were in my back garden and they called me Fred when we played chase or sometimes Heather [the couple's first victim]. It didn't bother me but after a while I got annoyed because it was constant."
The lie that changed everything
After months of relentless mocking, Charlotte decided to tell a lie to get the other kids to back off. She recalled: "I was sitting in class and this boy came along and she said, 'Oh Fred, can I borrow a rubber?' He then asked if I really was related to Fred and I turned around and said, 'Yes, he's my uncle'. I said it without smiling and looked him dead in the eye and he took a step back and everyone fell silent. They didn't mention Fred again until he died."
From that moment, the bullying stopped and Charlotte started to walk to class with a swagger. She said: "I'm glad I said it because it put a stop to it. It made me feel… not powerful but I kind of became a little bit smug and I came in with a bit of a gangster's walk and with a bit of an attitude."
Panic after Fred West's death
But Charlotte panicked when Fred West took his own life from his cell at HMP Birmingham in January 1995. She recalled: "I heard the news over the Christmas holidays and I remember thinking, 'Oh my god' because I knew it was going to be mentioned in school. I got to school and people were like, 'I'm so sorry about your uncle' and I felt like I had to keep it up. I was like, 'Thanks so much, difficult time' and I felt really awkward having to pretend to mourn a serial killer."
Charlotte, now a mum who works in a hardware store, eventually moved out of Somerset to settle in Ireland with her family. Although people don't bring up her surname as much, it remains a topic of conversation. She laughed: "I will still get some who give a 'Ooooh' when I say my full name and I think 'here we go again'. I've had this for 30 years."
