Inside Rose West’s luxury 26-year prison stint from lesbian flings to ‘dead Fred’ chats and breakfast with Baby P’s mum
THE SERIAL killer is one-half of Britain’s most despised criminal couples but behind bars, she allegedly had "girlfriends", adoring letters from her "weird cult of fans" and was treated like a "queen".
Rose West, 67, and her late husband Fred murdered at least 12 women and girls during a 20-year killing spree in Gloucester.
Rose, who's in HMP New Hall, could be questioned over the disappearance of Mary Bastholm, a suspected victim of the Wests, who vanished 53 years ago.
It follows police excavating The Clean Plate cafe, formerly known as the Pop In, in Gloucester, where Fred was believed to have carried out work.
Fred West hung himself while awaiting trial in 1995 and Rose is in prison for killing 10 people, including her stepdaughter Charmaine, during the couple's horrific crime spree between 1967 and 1987.
While many would recoil at the barbaric atrocities committed by the Wests, Rose is reportedly treated like a “queen” in prison, has engaged in lesbian flings, and has been afforded special luxuries.
While Rose was at HMP Low Newton, in County Durham, she allegedly tried to woo another infamous inmate - Tracey Connelly, the mother of the toddler known as ‘Baby P’.
'WOOING BABY P' MUM
Connelly was jailed after pleading guilty to a charge of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable child.
Her 17-month-old son died after suffering more than 50 injuries in eight months.
In 2010, a former inmate told The Sunday Mercury that Rose had tried to win favour with Connelly by giving her food.
The unnamed source said: “Rose and Tracey [Connelly] got together and Rose would make her breakfast in bed.”
They also claimed Rose successfully seduced other female prisoners before Connelly - mainly with her culinary skills.
This week, The Sun revealed she was crowned star baker during a 2018 prison competition inspired by The Great British Bake Off.
She won with a Victoria sponge and has cooked up other sweet treats including buns and cakes..
In another revelation, an unnamed ex-convict said Rose was “heard sitting in her cell, talking to Fred at night”.
She gets what she wants, she thinks that she is the queen of the wing!
Ex-HMP Low Newton inmate
Rose allegedly received special privileges behind bars because of her sick fame and reportedly she gave orders to guard.
The source noted that Rose “likes control” and would regularly “ask the prison guards to lock her in”.
They continued: “The guards see to it that she gets what she wants, she thinks that she is the queen of the wing!
“She even wrote to the governor to have her enhancements removed.”
‘Enhancements’ are the perks given to long-term prisoners if they behave.
The claims of “preferential treatment” were echoed by former HMP Low Newton inmate, Catherine Jones.
PRISON 'PERKS'
She got to know Rose in prison after being sentenced to 19 years for robbing and killing a man in a Liverpool B&B.
In 2018, Jones told The Sunday People: “She was treated differently, I’d say it was preferential treatment. The more notorious prisoners got that.
“Rose was clever, manipulative, clued up - that’s how she got favourable treatment.”
She claimed there were a number of perks Rose was allowed, including being “allowed to shower on her own” and work in a “sewing room”.
Jones claimed fellow prisoners gave the killer “stick” for her unforgivable crimes while they served time alongside one another.
Once inmates changed the wording on a tapestry she made for “her sewing room” from “Threads Room” to “Fred’s Room”.
According to Jones, when Rose returned to see the alteration she “just shook her head and took it down”.
'RULED THE ROOST'
They also mocked the killer when they heard her singing When Will I See You Again, the 1974 hit by The Three Degrees.
Jones said: “At the end of each chorus we were all shouting ‘Fred!’”
But others treated her with respect.
Jones continued: “She was the main woman, she ruled the roost.”
The former inmate also claimed to know about Rose’s lesbian affairs and said “she had a few girlfriends” and “different relationships” behind bars.
Jones claimed Rose would “make cakes for the girls” she liked in a bid to win them over.
She recalled one ‘social’ - where prisoners “sit around smoking and chatting” - when the serial killer said she was a Christian.
It following an inmate asking Rose: “What is it like knowing you will leave here in a wooden box?”
'FORGIVEN BY GOD'
Jones claimed Rose “came out with all this stuff about ‘finding God’” - and believed she would go to heaven.
Rose believed she had been “forgiven by God” and continued to protest: “Fred made me do it.”
Jones said: “We couldn’t believe it, she was blaming him but we all knew what she had done.”
She noted that Rose had attended the prison’s chapel “every Sunday” after finding religion.
Jones added: “She may be trying to find something by doing that but I don’t know... after everything she’s done?”
Last year, The Sun reported Rose’s “weird cult following” continued to swamp her with letters and cards - chillingly, even on Mother’s Day.
A source from HMP New Hall, in West Yorkshire, where Rose was transferred in 2019 amid rumours about ill health and death threats.
They said Rose hid away from other prisoners and kept “mainly to herself” since moving to the prison.
The insider added: “None [of the cards or letters] are from anyone she knows, as her seven surviving children cut contact long ago.
“Like many notorious inmates, she had picked up a weird cult following.”
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The source said Rose “always gets cards at Christmas” but staff were gobsmacked when they read notes praising her parenting skills.
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They said: “We were shocked to see ones from strangers calling her a ‘good mother’ when she murdered her own girl.
“One even said, ‘To a special mum on this special day’ and ‘love you’, it was all a bit strange.”