'I lived with Fred & Rose West... I felt sick when I heard of the murders'

Irishwoman recalls teenage years of life with serial killers

- BY PAIGE INGRAM

AN IRISHWOMAN who managed to escape the grip of Fred and Rose West has written a book about her harrowing experience.

In January 1979, a teenage Kathleen Richards left 25 Cromwell Street in the UK city of Gloucester with her nephew and sister and never looked back.

It wasn't until 15 years later, in August 1992, that the early morning departure would take on heart-stopping significance.

Now, almost half a century later, Kathleen, 65, has written a memoir Under Their Roof, detailing her time living with the serial killers Fred and Rose West.

Dublin-born Kathleen and her sister Deirdre were lodgers in the Wests' house from November 1977 to January 1979 after their mother, who had eight other children, needed more space at home.

Kathleen's first impression of Fred was that he was "a dirty old man".

She added: "Fred West was an idiot, he seemed harmless, a bit silly, always thinking he could get away with things.

"At first I quite liked him. He was friendly, nice even.