A woman who narrowly escaped the clutches of Fred and Rose West has revealed the couple were grooming her to replace a young woman they had already abused and murdered.
A Childhood of Deprivation and Abuse
Kathleen Richards, born into poverty in Dublin in 1960, endured a brutal upbringing. She was one of eleven siblings who often went hungry and faced regular beatings. At school, she was viciously bullied for wearing urine-soaked clothes. Her horrific introduction to sexual abuse began with a school caretaker, who assaulted her but gave her sweets and money afterwards, creating a warped sense of transaction. "I told myself I was worth a penny. That's all. A penny. Or a potato," she later reflected.
When her grandfather began abusing her, her mother dismissed her pleas. The family eventually moved to a council house in Derby and then to Gloucester. By the age of 17, Richards was seeking an escape from her home life and was drawn into the orbit of Fred West, who was known locally as a friendly and helpful figure.
The House of Horrors on Cromwell Street
In 1978, Richards moved into the Wests' home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester. She initially felt a false sense of security due to the number of children present. Fred West introduced his wife Rose and a 17-year-old girl named Shirley Robinson, whom he described as his lover. Shirley, who was later found buried in the garden with her unborn child, confided in Richards that she was pregnant with Fred's baby.
Richards described Rose West as terrifying, frequently screaming at her husband and children. One night, Shirley led her into a living room where Rose lay watching hardcore pornography, smiling silently at her. Richards noticed Shirley seemed deeply depressed, living in a corridor without a bedroom, and sometimes entering the Wests' bedroom at night.
The atmosphere was one of pervasive dread. Richards saw large, unexplained holes in her bedroom walls, stuffed with paper that would be gone by morning. In the corridors, Fred West would sexually assault her, pinning her against the wall and making lewd comments. He once left her bruised and she recalled he smelled of "dead animals." On one occasion when she screamed, Shirley Robinson came to her aid.
The Night of Escape and a Lifelong Trauma
The grooming escalated in February 1979. Richards woke to find Fred West on her bed, his hand over her mouth. He refused to let her go unless she agreed to watch a "special video" with him and Rose, after which he promised "we will have some fun." Pretending to agree, she seized her moment. She fled the house in her pyjamas in the dead of night, escaping to a bus station where she waited for her sister, vowing never to return.
Despite her physical escape, the psychological trauma was severe. She left her boyfriend, terminated a pregnancy, and at age 19, attempted suicide by overdose. She was haunted by hallucinations of Fred West's face. The news breaking in February 1994 of the Wests' arrest for multiple murders sent her into physical shock, causing stomach aches and headaches.
When Fred West took his own life in prison on 1 January 1995, her initial relief was followed by anger for the families of his victims who were denied justice in court. Kathleen Richards has now told her full story in a new book, a testament to her survival against unimaginable odds.
