Serial killer Rose West’s new alias hasn’t erased her infamy behind bars – with the 71-year-old reportedly shunned by her fellow inmates and increasingly isolated, barely leaving her wing
Serial killer Rose West has taken up a new name behind bars, but the alias hasn’t erased her dark past among inmates at the female-only prison – where she is reportedly frail, barely able to walk and increasingly isolated.
The 71-year-old has spent the last six years being shunned by fellow inmates at HMP New Hall, a women-only prison near Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Convicted in 1995 of murdering twelve women and girls alongside her husband Fred, West changed her name to Jennifer Jones by deed poll in 2020 in an apparent attempt to escape her past. But fellow inmates haven’t forgotten – and continue to avoid her.
Sources say she rarely leaves her wing, eats alone in her cell most mornings – usually tomato soup – and spends her days knitting and watching nature documentaries.
“She’s in a disabled room now because she can barely walk,” a source told the Sun. “She never really leaves the wing she’s held on and is escorted all the time by prison officers if she goes anywhere. Sometimes she sits in the communal areas on her own.
“No one talks to her because everyone knows who she is and what she did, even if she has changed her name. When I was there, she tried to make friends with the other women and gave them gifts, like vapes, but she was rejected. She likes to watch nature documentaries on the TV in her cell, especially ones about birds.”
Despite claiming innocence, West is said to have resigned herself to dying in prison. Her husband Fred West took his own life in 1995 while on remand, escaping trial for the couple’s horrific crimes during the 1970s and 1980s, several of which took place at their Gloucester home. West’s notoriety has resurfaced following the release of Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story on Netflix.
Now nearly 30 years into her sentence, she remains under threat from other inmates and has been moved multiple times over the years for her safety. While her life inside is reportedly comfortable, insiders say she lashes out at staff when things don’t go her way – and still receives disturbing letters from so-called “fans.”
A source said: “She can be quite abusive to officers if she doesn’t get what she wants and she’s very set in her ways. If she asks for something and it doesn’t happen within five minutes, she’ll get the hump. No one wants to talk to her or be close to her. She sits in the social areas around everyone else just to annoy the other women, knowing they don’t want to be around her.
“Often she’s just in her cell on her own and the other prisoners can hear her talking to the TV if they walk past. Her hair is grey now and she’s put on some weight but she still looks the same and she still wears her glasses. She never gets any visitors but still gets loads of post and cards from sick admirers on the outside, which has to go through security checks before it gets to her.”
West was caged for life in 1995 after police discovered a series of mutilated bodies buried in the couple’s garden, beneath a patio and even in a sex dungeon cellar. Among the victims was West’s eight-year-old stepdaughter Charmaine and the couple’s 16-year-old daughter Heather, who had been subjected to horrific sexual abuse by Fred. He forced her to watch porn with him and even tried to impregnate her.
West is allowed to continue living a comfortable life behind bars, despite refusing to help police find the remains of 20 other rumoured victims of her and her husband.