Latest news with #FredandRoseWest
Metro
14-06-2025
- Metro
Two skydivers die after tandem jump with investigation launched into fall
Two people have died after a skydive went wrong. The incident happened at Dunkeswell Airfield near Honiton in Devon on Friday afternoon. The two people were attempting a 'tandem jump' when they lost their lives. They haven't been publicly identified. The British Skydiving Board of Inquiry is investigating the death. Robert Gibson, chief executive of British Skydiving, said: 'British Skydiving has been notified of a tragic accident in which two jumpers lost their lives. More Trending 'Our deepest condolences go to their families, friends and the entire skydiving community. 'A British Skydiving Board of Inquiry will investigate the accident. 'Once complete, a report – setting out the Board's conclusions and any recommendations – will be submitted to the coroner, the police, the CAA, the British Skydiving Safety & Training Committee (STC) and any other relevant authorities. 'No further details will be provided at this time. We respectfully ask for privacy for all those affected at this difficult time.' Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. MORE: Thieves and tourists can't stop stealing Daddyhole Road street sign from seaside town MORE: The UK's mystical rainforest that's 'like a movie set' but 'haunted by a ghost dog' MORE: Fred and Rose West still haunt nation 30 years after House of Horrors was exposed
Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Fred and Rose West – A British Horror Story review: Netflix delivers a true crime tale of Nithari-level nastiness; a deeply upsetting peek at pure evil
In this era of exploitative true crime television, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story stands out as being unusually restrained. But this depends entirely on your ability to resist googling the sordid scandal that inspired it. The show will work only for those who aren't familiar with the case; anybody who remembers reading about it in the papers will probably wonder what made the filmmakers omit crucial details. Nevertheless, Fred and Rose West is an unusually well-made piece of true crime TV; it circles the case, but doesn't circumvent it. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the series was produced by the streamer's UK arm, which has historically been superior to the American (and certainly, the Indian) wings. Fred and Rose West is perhaps the most disturbing documentary of its kind that the streamer has released since 2019's Tell Me Who I Am, another British production. The show recounts the horrific revelations of Fred West, a middle-aged man who lived with his wife, Rose, in an unremarkable house in Gloucester. The couple had a history of run-ins with the law, but were let off for one reason or another. Their children — over half-a-dozen of them — spent time in and out of government care. During one of these periods away from home, comments made by them about their missing elder sister Heather raised suspicion among authorities, who began investigating her disappearance. What they discovered sent shockwaves across Britain, revealing a peek inside the mind of true evil. Also read – American Manhunt – Osama bin Laden review: Netflix series could lowkey be a CIA-funded propaganda piece, but it's undeniably thrilling It was discovered that Fred West murdered his own daughter many years ago, and buried her dismembered remains in the back garden of his 25 Cromwell Street home — this would later become known as the 'House of Horrors'. Gradually, more human remains were discovered in the backyard, and Fred readily admitted to having committed the crimes with an eerie eagerness. Audio recordings of his interrogations reveal him to be a cold-blooded psychopath — a man who speaks about performing unspeakable acts of horror with the matter-of-factness of somebody telling a gardener where to plant a bunch of chrysanthemums. It is, beyond a doubt, a story of Nithari-level depravity. But, for some reason, Fred West isn't as well-known a serial killer as, say, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy. Hollywood has an influence over culture of all forms, it would seem. But, then again, it's likely that the average Western consumer of true crime isn't familiar with the Nithari killings either. It feels strange to point out this imbalance in representation, but there you go. The crimes of Fred and Rose West, and the methods through which they carried them out, also reveal the gaps in the investigation that was carried out at the time. They were kidnapping and killing women in broad daylight, red flags about their actions had summarily been ignored by the police several times before. The show doesn't raise questions about this negligence, although it underlines the survivor's guilt felt by the sole woman who escaped their clutches. The show only reveals a part of what they did, bringing together solicitors, police officers, and members of the victims' families to paint a rather holistic picture of the story. But the context provided is undeniably selective. Why they decided to withhold certain details is a purely speculative subject, but it boggles the mind to imagine how much more scarring the series would've been had the show delved into Fred and Rose's past in more detail. It's like making a series about the Nithari killings but leaving out the cannibalism part. You're bound to wonder… Throughout the investigation, Fred insisted that he operated alone. Commentators featured in the show — a psychologist, various journalists and lawyers — described his relationship with Rose, messed up as it was, as true love. He was trying to protect her. But the police were determined to find evidence to prove that she was equally culpable. There is, of course, indication that she was essentially groomed into villainy by Fred — they met when she was just 15, and he was nearly 30. But, in many ways, Rose's story is more scandalous than even that of Fred. While his actions can impatiently be blamed on his warped psychology, Rose was conditioned into becoming the monster that she was. Again, the show barely scratches the tip of the iceberg on this front. Read more – American Nightmare review: Netflix true crime documentary revisits real-life Gone Girl case with sensitivity, not sensationalism Directed by Dan Dewsbury, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is a serviceable documentary that diligently avoids the cliches of the true crime genre. But, in its efforts to present a level-headed and well-rounded account of the story, it leaves out several crucial aspects. Whether this was a deliberate attempt to de-sensationalise a sensitive chapter of recent British history is up for debate. It could just as easily be a blatant case of tampering with the narrative. After all, the show also neglects to investigate (or even report) the impact that the Wests' actions had on their surviving children. Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is upsetting, but not as upsetting as Fred and Rose West's Wikipedia page. Fred and Rose West – A British Horror Story review: Director – Dan Dewsbury Rating – 3/5 Rohan Naahar is an assistant editor at Indian Express online. He covers pop-culture across formats and mediums. He is a 'Rotten Tomatoes-approved' critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild of India. He previously worked with the Hindustan Times, where he wrote hundreds of film and television reviews, produced videos, and interviewed the biggest names in Indian and international cinema. At the Express, he writes a column titled Post Credits Scene, and has hosted a podcast called Movie Police. You can find him on X at @RohanNaahar, and write to him at He is also on LinkedIn and Instagram. ... Read More
Metro
14-05-2025
- Metro
Girl, 14, dies at home with man and woman arrested over 'unexplained' death
A 14-year-old girl has been found dead at her home in Hartlepool. Police arrested a 55-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman over the 'sudden' and 'unexplained' death on May 5. Both have been bailed pending further enquiries. Cleveland Police said in a statement: 'Our thoughts are with the girl's family and friends at this difficult time.' A police spokesperson said: 'Police have launched an investigation following the sudden death of a 14-year-old girl in Hartlepool on the evening of Monday, May 5. 'The girl sadly passed away at home and her death is being treated as unexplained. 'A 55-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were arrested in connection with her death and later released on bail pending further enquiries.' Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. MORE: Teenager hit woman seconds after inhaling 'hippy crack' at wheel of her Fiat 500 MORE: Fred and Rose West still haunt nation 30 years after House of Horrors was exposed MORE: How the Menendez brothers murder case unfolded after huge new release twist
Scotsman
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Is Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story a true story?
Netflix has released a limited series about Fred and Rose West 📺 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Netflix has released a documentary on serial killers Fred and Rose West. The limited series arrived on streaming today (May 14). But is it based on a true story? Netflix has shined a spotlight on Fred and Rose West in a new limited series. Dubbed 'A British Horror Story' it is the streamer's latest splashy documentary show. It follows other previous programmes about other infamous UK figures - like Jimmy Saville and the Yorkshire Ripper. All of the episodes arrived on the streaming service today (May 14). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But is it based on a true story? Here's all you need to know: When was Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story released? Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story | Netflix The full limited series arrived on Netflix this morning (May 14). It began streaming at 8am and all of the episodes were released at that time. How many episodes are in the limited series? The documentary features three episodes in total - and each have runtimes between 47 minutes and 57 minutes. It runs for just over two and a half hours in total. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Is Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story based on a true story? It is a limited documentary series and recounts the events around the real life serial killers Fred and Rose West. The show features people talking about their memories from the time - as well as archival footage. The synopsis via Netflix reads: 'Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story is a definitive documentary series revealing the lives and crimes of Britain's most notorious and prolific husband and wife serial killers. 'With exclusive access to previously unseen police video and unheard audio recordings, the three part series will show how the Gloucestershire police were able to unearth the remains of the West's 12 victims to build a case against them that would bring closure for the families of the victims. 'The series features family members of some of the victims - a few of whom are speaking for the first time - giving insight into the pain and torment they went through for decades. From discovering that their missing loved ones were brutally murdered, to the trauma they experienced and the strength they displayed during the trial.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘These murders still live with me': the show that goes inside Fred and Rose West's ‘house of horrors'
Dez Chambers waited 15 years to get the news she didn't want. All that time, she thought her missing little sister, Alison, might still be out there. Dez would watch documentaries about homelessness to see if perhaps she'd recognise a face, and even attempted the Salvation Army's family tracing service. 'It was hope,' she says from her home in the Netherlands. Hope faded one day in 1994. Calling her from the UK, Dez's mother-in-law cried down the phone. There was panic, there was confusion, 'so I had to ask her. And then she said it was in the papers that the remains had been identified as Alison.' Back in England, one story was gripping the nation: Fred and Rose West. With every detail plastered on news channels and filling newspapers, the country was obsessed with the serial killers who for nearly three decades had been on an undetected murder spree, abducting young women, torturing them, mutilating them, and burying the bodies in the garden of their Gloucester home. Some of those bodies were the West's own children. Alison had gone missing in the late 1970s. A rough relationship with authority meant she ended up in care as a teenager, then ran away, social services told her family. She was taken in by a couple in Gloucester, looking after their children and doing housework in return. 'They know that I was in care, and are more than willing to help me on my feet,' Alison wrote in a letter to her mother in the early 80s. 'I have accepted them as a second family.' It was the worst second family she could have had: the Wests, whose gruesome crimes – and the people who were left to pick up the pieces – are the subject of Netflix's new three-part documentary series, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story. It's a documentary which, using unseen police video and unheard interview recordings with Fred West, brings new insight to some of the worst serial killers Britain has ever seen. The show reveals how the pair abused and murdered 12 young women, how the police carried out their investigation, and how the families coped, featuring interviews with relatives of the deceased – some of whom have never spoken in public before. Those interviews were the stories director Dan Dewsbury wanted front and centre. 'I really wanted to make sure that people understood this was a real thing that still affects these people today,' he says. 'It's one of the world's most known crimes. The hope is that [viewers] will come out of it thinking a lot of different things beyond just the crime that was committed.' It's a new approach for the now omnipresent true-crime format. While most focus on the twists and turns, the mystery and bloodshed, Dewsbury's version of this well-known case tries to put empathy for those affected at the heart of the storytelling. 'They wanted to bring the victims to life, and I wanted to do that too,' says Chambers, who has turned down other interviews in the past for fear of objectifying her little sister and reopening traumatic wounds. 'That's why I agreed to do this one, to bring Alison to life, but also for myself – for the closure.' Despite Dewsbury's victim-first approach, the series does still hit notes required for any Netflix true-crime series. There's creepy music with reversed vocals, glossy talking heads mixed with grainy archive footage, and ghostly Polaroids frequently popping up on screen. Dewsbury says he had to pick his battles regarding how far he could shake up the format. 'The advantage is you've got a readymade audience,' he says of the genre. 'The disadvantage is they may have a predisposition of what they want that series to be. It's up to me to push against some of that.' This is a story that has been told many times, and it required input from the lawyers, police and forensic experts involved in the case. How hard was it to keep these interviewees fresh? 'They become desensitised to it,' Dewsbury says. He kept notes of what the contributors had said in previous interviews, and alerted them when they were repeating themselves. 'I want people to give an authentic interview, really connect into what I'm trying to do – not resort to media-speak or what worked last time.' The previously unseen footage is bone-chilling. Viewers see tapes of West family home videos, police digging up bodies in the garden, shots from inside the 'House of Horrors' punctuated by archive material of the media frenzy around the case. But perhaps most shocking is the police footage of Fred at his home, handcuffed to detectives, being forced to locate his victims buried in the foundations. 'There was a bone in there last time,' West grunts in his thick Gloucester accent, pointing at a corner of his excavated garden and referencing a previous visit. In one scene, we're carried via police camcorder through the house, into the bespoke voids where carpenter West filmed his crimes. 'It was clear that Fred had been able to adapt the building to his sexual pleasure,' forensic psychologist Paul Britton says to the cameras. During the research period, Dewsbury digested hundreds of hours of grisly archive material, which included footage of locals expressing their disbelief that a friendly couple from the community was committing these atrocities under everyone's noses. 'I think about the reconciliation those people must have gone through, because it genuinely felt like a shock, to that road, to that street, to that town, to that country,' he says. 'It made me come face to face with this idea of the mask that people can put on.' Those involved in the case make for compelling viewing. Some are cartoonish and others understated – it's remarkable to think this motley crew were at the heart of the biggest murder story in the world at the time. There's Howard Sounes, the caricature Fleet Street hack who pays sources for exclusive stories. There's Howard Ogden, the small-time local lawyer brought in to represent Fred in a case that may have been above his pay grade. There's even an appearance from Brian Leveson, at the time a rising star in the legal world and the prosecuting lawyer in the West's trial. 'I have prosecuted all sorts of crime,' he says. 'But if I had to identify one case that lives with me the most, this is the case.' But this is not just a documentary about two of the worst killers in British history. It's a story of miscarriages of justice, incompetent authorities who didn't join the dots, and vulnerable young women – some runaways, some leaving care – who became easy to hide when the state wasn't looking for them. The Wests had been in contact with social services since the 60s, and a string of sexual assaults had gone unpunished. Dewsbury believes the lessons of the case apply to 2025. 'I think the process by which Fred and Rose got away with what they did might be slightly unique to that period of time, but the undercurrent of what was going on is really relevant to now,' he says. One truly staggering missed opportunity is the case of Caroline Owens, one of the Wests' nannies who was abducted, raped and abused by the pair in 1973. She escaped and bravely reported the crimes to the police, but the Wests inexplicably got off with a £50 fine. 'It was a missed opportunity to raise the profile of Fred and Rose and identify them as possible sex offenders who could carry out abductions, kidnapping and imprisonment,' says detective constable Russ Williams in the documentary. 'They did get off lightly with it.' Chambers wouldn't usually watch a documentary with 'Fred and Rose West' in the title, but she plans on tuning in to this one. 'It'll be tough, because there's things I likely didn't know, and things I might have forgotten,' she says. 'But I stand behind it, because it's about the victims. I'll have to watch it all in one go, because I won't be able to sleep in between.' Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is on Netflix on 14 May. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
