Prince William and Prince Harry's cousin, 20, found dead next to gun
Rosie Roche, aged 20 and a granddaughter of Princess Diana's uncle, was discovered dead by her mother and sister on July 14. A firearm was located near her at the family residence in Wiltshire, where she had been preparing for a holiday with friends.
At the inquest hearing at Wiltshire and Swindon coroner's court, area coroner Grant Davies confirmed that the police "have deemed the death as non-suspicious and there was no third-party involvement".
At the time of her passing, Rosie was pursuing an English Literature degree at Durham University. A university spokeswoman expressed that she "will be sorely missed".
The inquest has been postponed until October 25, reports the Mirror.
The sad news of Ms Roche's passing follows the death of Thomas Kingston, who wed Harry and William's cousin Lady Gabriella in 2019. He passed away in February last year at the age of 45, with a firearm found beside him. Princess Diana and her Aunt Mary Roche (centre) - Rosie's grandmother. (Image: PA)
The financier had sustained a "traumatic head wound", and a gun was discovered near his body in an outbuilding at his parents' home in the Cotswolds, according to an initial inquest at Gloucestershire Coroners Court. Police have concluded that his death was not suspicious.
Despite having no apparent relationship or financial issues, as a family friend told The Times, another close friend mentioned that Mr Kingston always prioritised others, potentially to the detriment of his own mental well-being.
The ex-financier, an alumnus of Bristol University with a degree in economic history, survived several life-threatening incidents, including a notorious suicide bombing at a church in 2004 that took 22 lives. Reverend Canon Andrew White, who managed the sole Anglican church in Baghdad, Iraq, and where Mr Kingston is said to have served as a hostage negotiator, recounted: "We couldn't move, and I can remember saying 'What do we do Tom?'".
"And he said, 'Pray'. I said, 'Lord, have mercy on us' and suddenly a huge oil tanker about 25 metres ahead of us blew up. If we hadn't been in the traffic jam, we would have been killed instantly. But this was a kind of daily thing that happened."
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Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'I'm pregnant - and my brother did it' Girl's horror confession about Fred West
Kitty West was merely 13 when she confided to her friends that she was expecting. However, it wasn't her boyfriend's child. It was Fred's. Her brother Fred's. This was the same Fred West who would later become one half of the most infamous serial killer duo in recent memory - a monster who sexually assaulted, murdered and mutilated young women for his own perverse pleasure, then dismembered their corpses. But long before he and Rose West gained notoriety for their House of Horrors at 25 Cromwell Street, Fred was already embarking on a very dark journey. Author, television producer and former Mirror journalist Howard Sounes was the first to report on the West murders for the Mirror in 1994 and subsequently became a leading authority on the case. He recently conducted numerous interviews and accessed over 100 hours of West's police interrogation recordings for his new book, The Fred West Tapes: Secrets of the Fred and Rose West Murder Investigation. Here, in Day Two of our exclusive serialisation, he unveils the forbidden family secrets that contributed to the creation of the beast. As a teenager, Fred West was regarded as one of the 'handsomest' lads around. He was seen as prime husband material in a rural area where many girls aimed to marry young for fear of being 'left on the shelf'. However, even from his earliest years, there was a darkness within him. One of his darkest childhood secrets was the tragic tale of his sister Kitty, who was six years his junior. Their parents Walter and Daisy West were impoverished, barely literate agricultural labourers who lived according to the seasons and could seem almost as simple as the livestock they cared for. They resided in the Herefordshire village of Much Marcle, merely thirty minutes' drive from Gloucester, yet a location frozen in time with an air of isolation. There were eight offspring, two of whom perished in early childhood, leaving: Fred, John, Daisy, Doug, Kitty and Gwen. "We were a very happy family ... Very close," Fred informed police during the murder inquiry in 1994, as disclosed in the fresh transcripts. "We all protected each other." Few who knew them - such as Kitty's school companion Jean Korbi - would concur with that assertion. In truth, Fred's mother wore a heavy leather strap which she employed to thrash her children, a practice Rose West subsequently embraced. His harsh mum also forbade romantic relationships until he reached 21, though his father provided contrasting guidance: "Whatever you enjoy, do. And make sure you don't get caught doing it, you know?" Fred's daughter Mae subsequently alleged: "He [Dad] said it was a father's right to break his daughters in. According to him, that is what his father had done." Fred West, aged 18, with sisters, Daisy, Gwen, Kitty and Doug. A year later, in 1961, Kitty told friends he was the father of her unborn baby. Kitty's schoolfriend Jean Korbi Speaking publicly for the first time regarding her companion Kitty, Jean discloses the day she discovered a horrific truth. "I'm pregnant," Kitty, then 13, declared to a circle of friends. They were unaware that Kitty had a romantic partner. "Oh, it's not a boyfriend, me brother did it. Fred." Fred, who was 19 at the time, was seen as quite a catch. "He was one of the handsomest," Jean reminisces. "He had a lovely smile, a nice wide smile, it lifted up his face. I had a schoolgirl crush on him." However, she was shocked to discover that this 'nice' lad had impregnated his younger sister. Jean had always thought the Wests were a bit peculiar, but this revelation was startling. "I mean she [Kitty] was a bit Dolly Dimple," Jean comments. "The whole family seemed a bit odd [but] I'd never heard of anything like incest, and then she proceeded to tell us how it was done, where it was done." Kitty confessed that she and Fred had been intimate in her bedroom, and it happened "lots of times". She admitted to being nervous initially. "'But Fred said because I'm his sister I wouldn't get pregnant'", Jean recalls Kitty saying. Her friends suggested that Kitty should have rebuffed Fred." She said, 'I wouldn't do that ... I quite like it', Jean adds. "She seemed quite nonchalant about it, 'It's normal, haven't you done it?' sort of thing." Jean has never forgotten that conversation, adding: "I remember it to this day, even where we were when she said it, because we were all in shock."" TV Producer Howard Sounes cover the case for the Mirror in 1994 and is Senior Producer of Netflix's Fred & Rose: A British Horror Story. His new book, serialised in the Mirror, features a never-before-seen photo of Fred West in prison on the cover. Howard Sounes covered the story for the Mirror in 1994 before becoming an author and TV producer (Image: Glynn Griffiths) The tale reached local constabulary, and in June 1961 a detective questioned Kitty and West. "Well, doesn't everyone do it?" West enquired of the officer. By the time West appeared before a magistrate, charged with incest, he entered a not guilty plea, Kitty declined to give evidence and West was acquitted. The consequences were devastating. Kitty was thrown out of school and underwent a termination. She never recovered and passed away in 2006, tormented by her history. Moreover, Fred discovered that he could perpetrate a sexual crime and escape punishment, even when police became aware. Soon afterwards, he started courting a 14 year old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. Despite impregnating his own sibling, he remained well-regarded. "[Fred] was still liked," recalls Jean. "All the teenage girls, his age group, they were all drooling ... a lot of girls were after him." The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week When his new partner reached 15, Fred stopped whilst driving her home one evening and assaulted her. "He pushed me on the bank and raped me," the girl subsequently informed police. The girl felt stunned. "[I] just didn't know what to say." Shortly following this Fred violated her again, at a flat. However, she didn't inform police until the murder inquiry in 1994. Once again Fred slipped through the net without facing any consequences. His twenties would descend into even greater darkness. He became infatuated with Scottish teenager Catherine 'Rena' Costello, who was already expecting another man's baby, wed her, relocated to Glasgow, abandoned her to work as a prostitute to help pay the bills - and secured employment driving a Mr Whippy ice cream van. Fred and Kitty's parents, Walter and Daisy West. (Image: George Phillips) Walter and Daisy West took their children to Barry Island for a holiday in the late 50s. Front row: Kitty and Gwen (in buggy); middle row, from left: Doug, Daisy, Fred and John In 1965 he was doing his rounds when he struck and killed three year old Harry Feeney. His relatives remain convinced that it wasn't an accident as officers had concluded at the time. But whether deliberate or not, at merely 24, Fred had become a murderer, a rapist, and had nearly fathered his sister's child. Two years afterwards, his 18 year old lover Anne McFall vanished whilst eight months pregnant. Her remains - along with Fred's unborn child - wouldn't be discovered for 27 years. Yet again it could have ended there - but it didn't. It subsequently came to light that Fred had confessed to his father. He revealed to Walter that he had buried Anne's remains at the woodland's edge and even led him to the location. "I couldn't go up there on me own at that time," Fred later told his solicitor. "So he walked up there with me. He said, 'Look, son, I'm your father, I'm not going to turn you in. If you can live with it then I'll say nothing.'" Walter informed his wife Daisy, who subsequently revealed to his brother John: "Freddy's killed the girl [Anne] and buried her in Kempley Woods!" However, nobody contacted the police. Had they done so, Anne McFall might have been his sole victim. Instead, Fred stayed free. And encountered Rose. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Migrant hotel protests spread across the country with more planned today as cops clamp down on weekend of stand-offs
MIGRANT hotel protests have spread across the country as furious citizens take to the streets to challenge illegal immigration. Yesterday protests were held across the country with demonstrations outside migrant hotels held in Norwich, Leeds, Southampton and Nottinghamshire. 2 Brits are expressing rising anger with the Government's use of migrant hotels Credit: PA Further demonstrations are planned today in Epping, Wolverhampton and Cheshire as anger over the Government's continued use of migrant hotels rises. The protests have so far remained peaceful but some minor confrontations with counter protestors were seen. A group of Some were said to be carrying 'Stand Up to Racism' placards and were escorted away by police. Read more in News Further demonstrations are planned today in Epping, Wolverhampton and Cheshire as public anger over the Police have so far arrested 18 people and charged seven in connection with the continuous protests in Epping. The The man is alleged to have Most read in The Sun Protests have spread across the country with demonstrations held earlier in the week outside the four-star Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf. According to the latest Home Office data 32,000 A record 24,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far in 2025. 2 Protesters were seen setting off flares outside the Britannia Leeds Hotel in Middleton, Leeds Credit: Alamy
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside Fred & Rose West's sordid house of horrors where kids slept above dead bodies & were made to do the unthinkable
A FORGOTTEN interview with the son of evil serial killers Fred and Rose West has revealed the torture he suffered at the hands of his parents. This includes sleeping above the bodies of their victims buried under the cellar. 9 Mugshots of evil killers Fred and Rose West, who were arrested in 1994 Credit: PA:Press Association Images 9 The Wests' 'house of horrors' in Cromwell Street, Gloucester Credit: PA:Press Association 9 The victims were found buried in the creepy cellar Credit: SWNS:South West News Service The previously unpublished accounts of Barry West give a harrowing insight into what it was like growing up in Britain's House of Horrors. In 1994 the couple were arrested and charged - with Fred taking his own life the following January in prison, while Rose was sentenced to 10 life terms with a whole life order. Journalist and author Howard Sounes has shared his unearthed interview with Barry, two years before he died of an overdose in 2020, aged 40, for the first time. READ MORE NEWS 'My dad was a solid monster,' Barry told Sounes, reports 'But she [Rose] was a complete psycho. That's what people don't know: My mum was, child abuse-wise, the main person. "My mum was completely sick in the head. She beat me way more than my dad did, and enjoyed it, absolutely enjoyed it.' The West children were made to sleep in the cellar of the family's home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, under which they buried many of their victims. Most read in The Sun Sometimes they were strapped to their beds - and Rose wore a the cellar keys around her neck like a prison guard. The evil mum would regularly snap and lash out - hitting and slapping, as well as stabbing and strangling her kids. Her weapon of choice was often a novelty giant wooden spoon, which she'd wield like a baseball bat. Pathetic last days of Rose West revealed as serial killer monster can barely walk, has no friends & has new fake identity Barry told Sounes his nose is "on a slant" due to the amount of times Rose broke it, and has "massive scars" on the back of his head where he was struck over and over again. He went on to describe the "intense enjoyment" his mum got out of "beating the s*** out of me". Barry recalls how one Christmas Day he hid some sprouts in a tissue on the back of a chair, and when Rose found them days later she forced him to eat the rotting vegetables. He said she put her hand over his mouth and made him swallow his own sick. LIVES LOST: The victims of Fred and Rose West Anna McFall The nanny of Fred and Rena West's children, McFall was believed to have been murdered in 1967. She was pregnant when she died, with West believed to have been the father. Her body was found in June 1994 in a shallow grave. Fred West denied murdering McFall but he is said to have confided to a visitor after his arrest that he stabbed her following an argument. This happened before Rosemary West met him. Charmaine West With Fred in prison for the theft of car tyres and a vehicle tax disc, Rosemary was left to look after eight-year-old Charmaine. A neighbour is said to have found Charmaine tied to a wooden chair with her hands behind her back with Rosemary standing with a large wooden spoon. Rosemary claimed she'd been taken by her mother Rena but her skeleton was found at the Midland Road property, hidden and missing bones. Rena West Rena is believed to have been murdered by strangulation to avoid an investigation into Charmaine's whereabouts. Rosemary was not charged for this murder. Lynda Gough Lynda Gough, 21, was the first sexually motivated killing conducted by the Wests. She moved into Cromwell Street in April 1973, having had affairs with several lodgers. The Wests later claimed she'd been asked to leave after hitting one of their children. Strangulation and suffocation were the likely causes of death. Carol Ann Cooper Cooper was murdered in November 1973 aged just 15. She was allowed to spend the night at her grandmother's house before a doctor's appointment the next morning. But she somehow ending up on Cromwell Street and was killed by the couple. Her body was found more than twenty years later. Lucy Partington A 21-year-old medieval English student at Exeter University, she returned home for Christmas in December 1973. She left a friend's house in a rush to get the last bus from Cheltenham to Gretton on 27 December, and was abducted. She was found more twenty years later, her dismembered body in the cellar of Cromwell Street. Therese Siegenthaler A 21-year-old Swiss sociology student at Woolwich Polytechnic. She had planned to hitch-hike to Ireland in Easter 1974. Her family reported her missing having not heard from her for some time. Prosecution believe she was abducted before being killed, with Fred West later building a fake chimney over her grave. Shirley Hubbard Just 15 at the time of her death, Hubbard is believed to have been abducted by the Wests. Her body was found following an excavation in the concrete and plastic membrane of the cellar floor. Juanita Mott In the summer of 1974, Mott, 19, moved into 25 Cromwell Street but later went missing when she was living in Newent. Her body was found in March 1994, 19 years later, with West having concreted over the floor of the cellar. Shirley Robinson The first victim buried outside the house, Robinson had an affair with Fred West, and by autumn 1977, she was pregnant with his child. It was initially claimed the 18-year-old had moved to Scotland but her body was later found. When questioned, Rosemary West, herself pregnant with her daughter Tara at the time of the murder, claimed she did not remember her, which was described as 'ludicrous' by the prosecution. Alison Chambers The last murder with a sexual motive established. She disappeared just before her 17 th birthday, having been seen at 25 Cromwell Street throughout the summer. Her body was buried underneath the patio. Heather West The first child born to Fred and Rosemary West, there is no evidence the 16-year-old was aware of the killings. Sexually abused by her parents and having told friends, she suddenly went missing in 1987, with Rosemary claiming she had gone to Wales to be with a lesbian partner. The couple would joke to their other children that they would 'end up under the patio like Heather' if they misbehaved. This - and Fred's abuse of his other daughter - led to the search warrants for the property, and subsequently to their arrests. Barry and his brothers were forced to grow their hair long and wore their sisters' hand-me-downs to school - while their sisters were made to cut their hair short and wear boys' shoes. He said he and all his siblings had speech impediments growing up, a sign of child abuse. Barry would get his "face punched in" at school every day, but was scared to go home. He recalled how Fred would constantly talk about sex in front of his kids and about wanting to take his daughters' virginity, as well as the family tradition of incest, and sex with animals. 9 The Wests forced their kids to sleep in the cellar 9 Rose took joy in beating her children Credit: PA:Press Association 9 Police digging up the garden at the property in Gloucester, where their victims were buried Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Fred's main ambition was to see Rose mounted by a bull. Barry said he was forced into sexual situations with his mum aged eight or nine. The kids were often forced to make phone bookings for "Mandy" - Rose's prostitute alias, and Barry was even offered as an extra for clients. A "giant man" became a regular who would rape Barry at the house. He said the children were even made to watch homemade porn featuring their mum and she kept different underwear in labelled jars for each client. There is a chance, according to some reports, that Fred was not Barry's biological father at all, and he was the product of an incestuous relationship between Rose and her own dad Bill Letts. He had allegedly abused her since she was a child, and regularly visited the Cromwell Street house, according to Rose's notes from prison. The Wests' murder victims were usually attacked and killed, then often dismembered in the family bathroom. Most of their children maintained they had no idea what was going on. How horror unfolded JANUARY 1968: Mary vanishes aged 15 while waiting for a bus to meet her boyfriend. FEBRUARY 1968: Scotland Yard detectives called in to investigate Mary's disappearance return to London with no sign of her. FEBRUARY 1994: Police search garden at Fred and Rose West's home, 25 Cromwell St, Gloucester, over their teenage daughter Heather's disappearance. Nine bodies are found and Fred West is charged with murder. Police are then informed of a potential link to Mary's disappearance and the café. APRIL 1994: Rose West is charged with murder. JANUARY 1995: Fred West kills himself in jail while awaiting trial for 12 murders. NOVEMBER 1995: Rose convicted of ten murders, including Fred's step-daughter from previous marriage Charmaine, pictured, who vanished aged eight. JANUARY 2012: Police reject a petition by Mary's friends to search café. MAY 2021: TV documentary makers find new evidence of Mary's remains at café. Police begin a dig at the scene. One child, who Sounes does not identify, however, claimed years later they were locked in a cupboard under the stairs and could hear shouting and screaming. When they came out, fresh concrete had been poured in the cellar, they claimed. Barry said the children didn't run away because they considered their dad "like God" who would "find you". His older sister Heather vanished aged 16 in 1987 after saying she wanted to leave the house - before later being found dismembered under the patio. It was a long-running family "joke" that Heather was buried in the garden which became a sick reality when police diggers later moved in. However, Barry recalled how he once tried to kill Fred with a screwdriver when he was 11, but his dad just laughed at him. But they did get some revenge on Rose by banding together as she came at them with the wooden spoon. It was when the police investigation had begun into the Wests had begun and just before the children were put into care. They piled on top of their mum and she hit them until she was "knackered" and then "broke down", with Barry saying it was the first time they "saw weakness". 9 The house was eventually demolished Credit: PA:Press Association 9 Fred took his own life in prison prior to being sentenced and Rose continues to serve a whole life order Credit: Rex Features 9 Ten of the West's young victims
