UK UK - FRED and ROSEMARY WEST

[MelmothTheLost]

Police force is blasted for 'glorifying killers' after charging people £75 to spend Halloween night in a cell used by Fred West

A police force allowing thrill-seekers to spend Halloween in a cell used by serial murderer Fred West for £75 has been accused of 'glorifying killers'.

West Midlands Police are holding a spooky ghost hunt at the notorious Steelhouse Lane cells in Birmingham.

After murdering at least 12 people, with wife Rose an accomplice in 10, West was held in the station before being transferred to the city's Winson Green prison, where he hanged himself on New Year’s Day 1995.

Police force blasted for £75 Halloween stay in Fred West cell | Daily Mail Online

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Sounds like the perfect place for a Websleuths meet up

 

[carnival]

If only 25 Cromwell Street still stood.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

If only 25 Cromwell Street still stood.

It's interesting that it was demolished, yet Dennis Nilsen's flat in London remains and indeed came up for sale again recently. I guess it's less of a problem to demolish an entire property than one in which the "horror" bit is only part of it.

Also Nilsen was arrested in 1983, 11 years before the Wests were. Maybe during that period there was a cultural shift and people became less resilient, or on the other hand more ghoulish.

Say what you like about the Tudors, they didn't demolish the Tower of London because a few people were tortured and executed in it.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Some other properties that were demolished due to horrible crimes:

Ian Huntley's house
The cottage where April Jones killer lived (took just an hour, watched by April's parents
10 Rillington Place
Brady & Hindley's house
And more...

"fun" fact - Peter Sutcliffe's house in Bradford still stands, and his wife still lives in it!

Mark Bridger's cottage and other horror houses reduced to rubble
What has become of properties where notorious serial killers unleashed horrors | Daily Mail Online

 

[MelmothTheLost]

10 Rillington Place

To be fair, 10RP stood until 1970 and was demolished as part of a slum clearance programme, not because of what happened there.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

I always had the sense that 25 Cromwell Street also was demolished because it was too wrecked anyway because of all the excavation done on the property (as well as LE didn't wanted it to stand as a reminder, and possibly a tourist attraction).

Besides, Websleuthers can meet up in that little park that was placed there instead!

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I always had the sense that 25 Cromwell Street also was demolished because it was too wrecked anyway because of all the excavation done on the property

A very good point. There was so much digging in the cellar and ripping the house apart that it probably wasn't stable anyway.

 

[carnival]

Were I of a ghoulish nature (as I am!) and 10 Rillington still stood, I would pay money to tour it.

 

[Livness]

Massively misleading story from Daily Mail and Sky, but what can we expect from them...

There are multiple cells being used (though the cell doors will not actually be locked, the main entrance is). They are doing another after Christmas, I am doing that one with a number of 999 supporters and workers. They are doing it to raise money, both for the restoration of the museum and for COPS (Care of Police Survivors), a charity who support the families of police officers who have died.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Notorious serial murderer Rose West wins first prize in a prison bake-off contest with her Victoria sponge

Notorious serial killer Rose West has scooped first prize in a prison bake-off competition.

West, 64, who was convicted of ten murders in 1995, came up trumps when inmates in F-Wing at HMP Prison Low Newton voted for her Victoria sponge.

Notorious serial murderer Rose West wins first prize in a prison bake-off contest | Daily Mail Online

 

[Kid Dropsy]

There's a joke here somewhere, but probably not funny enough to tell.

 

[bluebird69]

Yes this is a joke why is it even in msm? I don't think her baking would change anyone's views of her

 

[Indy Anna]

From the article:

'West uses her cooking skills to win people over.

'There are some very violent women on the wing and a lot of them are very aggressive towards West because of her crimes.

'But she tends to defuse situations by offering other prisoners cakes and biscuits.'

[...]

Despite being a sadistic serial killer, West, who is serving a life sentence for her despicable crimes, is allowed to use knives while under staff supervision.

My first thought when I read the OP was: why is a convicted serial killer allowed in a kitchen around knives? I would think she would also have access to poisons in the prison kitchen (cleaners, perhaps rat poison, e.g.). What would stop her from lunging at staff with a knife, or poisoning the inmates who are aggressive toward her? Even slipping a knife into her cell?

It's also troubling to know West is doing what she loves while incarcerated. Her daughter and 9 other people aren't around to enjoy their lives.

What's next -- using West as the new image for Betty Crocker?

 

[Kid Dropsy]

I suppose human excrescence Rose West may have won some sort of 'baking contest' (wait what?) in prison (is this the done thing?). However, four short years ago, she allegedly (you read right) had grown a mustache which kept other inmates at bay.

Life has itself become a tabloid feature in those four short long years. Who knows.

 

[silverjug]

From the article:

My first thought when I read the OP was: why is a convicted serial killer allowed in a kitchen around knives? I would think she would also have access to poisons in the prison kitchen (cleaners, perhaps rat poison, e.g.). What would stop her from lunging at staff with a knife, or poisoning the inmates who are aggressive toward her? Even slipping a knife into her cell?

It's also troubling to know West is doing what she loves while incarcerated. Her daughter and 9 other people aren't around to enjoy their lives.

What's next -- using West as the new image for Betty Crocker?

So glad to see my taxes being spent wisely. She should be doing hard labour.

 

[FlossyMay]

I wouldn't eat anything she touched.

 

[Indy Anna]

I suppose human excrescence Rose West may have won some sort of 'baking contest' (wait what?) in prison (is this the done thing?). However, four short years ago, she allegedly (you read right) had grown a mustache which kept other inmates at bay.

Life has itself become a tabloid feature in those four short long years. Who knows.

From the Sun article about her growing a mustache:

Serial killer Rose West ‘grows a moustache’ in prison

... she is known to have a cosy life in jail – earning £10.50 as a cleaner on
the wing and enjoying “enhanced” prisoner status.

It means she can furnish her single cell with bedding, curtains and rugs from
Argos catalogues and buy make-up from Avon brochures.

She also has a PlayStation.

 

[JerseyGirl]

'Fred West' rape couple victim speaks out

 

[Pi Thoughts]

Sadistic British serial killer Rosemary West is planning to appeal her sentence so she can avoid dying behind bars.

A judge initially sentenced Rose West to 25 years in prison, however that was later increased to a full life term by then then Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

But according to the Daily Star, West, now aged 66, has told fellow inmates at Low Newton prison, County Durham, that she will lodge an appeal against her sentence in the new year.

"West is convinced that she has become a political prisoner and that no Home Secretary will dare overturn her whole-life tariff because it would be too politically damaging,” the source said.

"Nevertheless, she is determined to try. She has now served 23 years in prison. She maintains that even if she was guilty, she has served her time."
Evil 'House of Horrors' serial killer vows to escape death in prison