The tormented offspring of the notorious killers Fred and Rose West, such as their daughter Mae, survived an upbringing rife with unfathomable abuse. Mae West, now 53, has been working tirelessly to carve out a life away from the shadow of her monstrous parents ever since they were jailed in 1995.
Her mother, Rose, received a harrowing sentence of 10 life terms for her role in the murders of at least 12 women across Gloucester during the 1970s and ’80s, including two of her own daughters, Charmaine and Heather West. While Rose vehemently denies her guilt, her husband Fred sidestepped trial by committing suicide in custody.
Fast forward to today, three decades after her imprisonment at HMP New Hall, 71 year old Rose West is said to be battling loneliness and deteriorating health. She adopted the alias Jennifer Jones back in 2020 but has become a pariah, isolated and infirm, according to The Sun’s recent source: “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.”
The eldest surviving child, Mae, who grew up in the infamous house on 25 Cromwell Street, is reportedly estranged from her mother Rose, leaving the latter in complete solitude.
By the time of Mae’s birth, her half-sister Charmaine and father Fred’s former wife, Catherine ‘Rena’ West, had already been victims of her bloodthirsty parents, reports the Mirror.
Bedtime stories or a goodnight kiss were unheard of in her childhood home, and toys were scarce. As a result, they often created their own games – dressing up in the clothes of their parents’ victims for pretend play, which they found while locked in the cellar at night.
By the age of seven, Mae had suffered severe sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents, with her father forcing her and her older sister Heather to watch pornographic material with him. This bleak future was something her older half-sister Anne Marie had warned her about.
“One day, I went swimming with Anne Marie and she told me she’d been sexually abused by Mum and Dad,” said Mae, who now resides in the West Country with her husband and two children.
“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 memoir, Love As Always, mum.
It was even suggested that the wicked Fred had plans to impregnate his daughters, telling them: “I made you; I can do what I like with you.”
He openly bragged about filming Rose having sex with random men while he hid in the wardrobe, Mae disclosed to the Daily Mail. “I used to find it utterly repugnant. Their fascination with risqué sexual activities was never hidden from us. They’d leave adult magazines and bondage gear: masks, rubber suits, whips and the like, strewn around the house.
“It wasn’t uncommon for us children to stumble upon dildos, vibrators and other intimate toys casually left around the home. Dad found our reactions more amusing than anything else.”
With Fred and Rose exposing their offspring to adult themes from an early age, Mae was often pulled in by her teenage years to help Rose, who took up sex work, schedule encounters with clients in their family home, without regard for the children being there.
Rose’s treatment of her daughter was harsh, even using terrifying objects like a knife to menace her. Their existence was marred by the perpetual dread of parental warnings, fearing they would share the fate of their sister, Heather, “under the patio”.
Yet, Mae recalls fleeting moments of normality amid the chaos. “We ate meals and watched telly together, celebrated birthdays and Christmas, and went on family holidays,” she recounts in her book.
“Mum used to bake splendid cakes. We’d always have a fantastic iced sponge for our birthdays and an equally delightful fruit cake laced with alcohol at Christmas time.
“She always made a real effort for special occasions and Christmas Day was the one day we truly felt like any other family.”
