Rose West: The Making of a Monster by Jane Carter Woodrow Page A
Authors: Jane Carter Woodrow
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just a year earlier, Bill and Daisy had celebrated their silver wedding
anniversary. Having reached the state of twenty-five years of wedded bliss by default, they then handed on their warped and
dysfunctional model for marriage to Rosie and the rest of their children. Daisy may have hoped her husband would mellow with
time, but while his violent, paranoid schizophrenia remained untreated, this could never happen. The only respite the family
had from Bill was when he bought a tent the size of a marquee, which took up the whole garden when he put it out to air. He
then packed up the tent and a sleeping bag in the boot of the car and set off for the weekend – as he would frequently do
in the summer. Where he went and what he did, no one was ever quite sure, but they were all probably glad of the break.
By now Daisy’s family had raised concerns over Bill’s heavy-handedness with the children. Bill did not let this pass, and
when Daisy’s younger sister, Eileen, came to stay the following year, he took great pleasure in making life as uncomfortable
as possible for his sister-in-law, removing the living-room door to make sure she got a nasty draught as she slept on the
settee. Andy was so embarrassed by his father’s behaviour that he offered her his bedroom in exchange for the settee; compared
to what he was used to at times, this was still luxury.
Andy was, at seven stone, far too small for his frame: ‘undernourished’, as a former neighbour was to say of all the children,
except Rose. While training as an apprentice, and even while he was still at Cleeve School, he’d often slept in fields and
under hedgerows in preference to going home to face another pasting. Bill knew his son hated violence and, mistaking it for
cowardice, hit him all the more, but was shocked when Andy finally snapped and punched him back as hard as he could. And in
the usual Letts tradition, Andy then found his clothes and belongings on the doorstep that night when he returned home from
work. Andy would still go back to live at Tobyfield Roadfor short periods of time during his teens, unable to refuse his mother’s requests to come home when she turned up at his
bedsit sporting bruises at various times. But, in a response typical of bullies, Bill never hit Andy again – although his
attentions were now focused elsewhere.
At the time of her trial, Rosie spoke of how she’d ‘lost her virginity’ at 14, and it is likely that at this point Bill raped
her. She would also tell her children how their granddad had hurt her at this age, although never saying more than this. Later
she would refer to the abuse in terms of dark shadowy figures in hats and other grotesque imagery. While Rose’s relationship
with Bill would grow into something sinister and unholy as she got older, for now the young teenager would do whatever it
took to placate Bill and comfort Graham, 10, and Gordon, 8, the only way she knew how: by abusing them. Although it is unlikely
that Daisy had any knowledge of Bill’s abuse of their youngest daughter, when she had scrimped and saved enough to buy Rosie
a set of new grown-up underwear, the young girl sat on the bed with a pair of scissors and proceeded to chop them all up.
This may have been a cry for help to her mother or, more likely, an act of contempt, but it was certainly a clear sign – if
one were needed – of a disturbed young girl.
Daisy had maintained for many years that she would leave Bill just as soon as the youngest children reached their teens. And,
as that time began to approach, the normally downtrodden Daisy became stronger and more confident. The change in her had begun
since she’d started going out to work, and with Bill out of the house more often anyway, she never suffered from severe depression
again. But when she finally gathered the strength and courage to leave Bill the following year, she and the family would be
shocked by Rosie’s
anniversary. Having reached the state of twenty-five years of wedded bliss by default, they then handed on their warped and
dysfunctional model for marriage to Rosie and the rest of their children. Daisy may have hoped her husband would mellow with
time, but while his violent, paranoid schizophrenia remained untreated, this could never happen. The only respite the family
had from Bill was when he bought a tent the size of a marquee, which took up the whole garden when he put it out to air. He
then packed up the tent and a sleeping bag in the boot of the car and set off for the weekend – as he would frequently do
in the summer. Where he went and what he did, no one was ever quite sure, but they were all probably glad of the break.
By now Daisy’s family had raised concerns over Bill’s heavy-handedness with the children. Bill did not let this pass, and
when Daisy’s younger sister, Eileen, came to stay the following year, he took great pleasure in making life as uncomfortable
as possible for his sister-in-law, removing the living-room door to make sure she got a nasty draught as she slept on the
settee. Andy was so embarrassed by his father’s behaviour that he offered her his bedroom in exchange for the settee; compared
to what he was used to at times, this was still luxury.
Andy was, at seven stone, far too small for his frame: ‘undernourished’, as a former neighbour was to say of all the children,
except Rose. While training as an apprentice, and even while he was still at Cleeve School, he’d often slept in fields and
under hedgerows in preference to going home to face another pasting. Bill knew his son hated violence and, mistaking it for
cowardice, hit him all the more, but was shocked when Andy finally snapped and punched him back as hard as he could. And in
the usual Letts tradition, Andy then found his clothes and belongings on the doorstep that night when he returned home from
work. Andy would still go back to live at Tobyfield Roadfor short periods of time during his teens, unable to refuse his mother’s requests to come home when she turned up at his
bedsit sporting bruises at various times. But, in a response typical of bullies, Bill never hit Andy again – although his
attentions were now focused elsewhere.
At the time of her trial, Rosie spoke of how she’d ‘lost her virginity’ at 14, and it is likely that at this point Bill raped
her. She would also tell her children how their granddad had hurt her at this age, although never saying more than this. Later
she would refer to the abuse in terms of dark shadowy figures in hats and other grotesque imagery. While Rose’s relationship
with Bill would grow into something sinister and unholy as she got older, for now the young teenager would do whatever it
took to placate Bill and comfort Graham, 10, and Gordon, 8, the only way she knew how: by abusing them. Although it is unlikely
that Daisy had any knowledge of Bill’s abuse of their youngest daughter, when she had scrimped and saved enough to buy Rosie
a set of new grown-up underwear, the young girl sat on the bed with a pair of scissors and proceeded to chop them all up.
This may have been a cry for help to her mother or, more likely, an act of contempt, but it was certainly a clear sign – if
one were needed – of a disturbed young girl.
Daisy had maintained for many years that she would leave Bill just as soon as the youngest children reached their teens. And,
as that time began to approach, the normally downtrodden Daisy became stronger and more confident. The change in her had begun
since she’d started going out to work, and with Bill out of the house more often anyway, she never suffered from severe depression
again. But when she finally gathered the strength and courage to leave Bill the following year, she and the family would be
shocked by Rosie’s
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