More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
“He was totally haunted by his childhood. How do you overcome being the son of Fred and Rose West?”
These are the words of biographer Howard Sounes, describing the tragic life of Barry West, who is believed to have taken his own life in a Kent hostel following a suspected overdose .
KentOnline can reveal the 40-year-old was living at a Maidstone supported service for adults stepping down from forensic hospital, rehabilitation or prison.
His parents Fred and Rose abducted, raped and murdered young women before burying them at their home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, over 20 years.
They were eventually charged in the mid 1990s, with the bodies discovered under garden paving slabs and the cellar.
Fred killed himself while awaiting trial in 1995. His wife was jailed for life for her part in 10 of 12 known murders.
Born in 1980, Barry was one of the depraved couple’s younger children.
When aged just seven, Barry saw his elder sister Heather beaten to death by Fred and Rose.
He said: “I heard my mum slap her, then I looked through the crack and saw my dad walk round behind her and put his leg out. Then he grabbed her neck and tripped her over.
“She went on to the floor. I could see her just a few feet away. Then my mum just booted her.
“She was kicking and kicking her and calling her a slag. My dad still had her by the throat.”
He later branded his mother a “psychopath” and said: “I was happy when my dad committed suicide and now I think they should put my mum in a room with all the parents of the people she helped murder so they could tear her to pieces.”
He was taken into care five years after his sister’s death, along with his siblings, following an abuse investigation into his parents.
He was given a new name, which was protected by a court order in the 1990s, and initially remained in Gloucester before moving away to start a fresh life.
Journalist Howard Sounes, who wrote Fred and Rose, a book on the couple, met Barry 10 years ago and the pair stayed in touch until recently.
Speaking to KentOnline Mr Sounes said: “He led a very difficult and tragic life. He was a very complicated unhappy person. I spent a lot of time with him and he was very badly damaged.
“He was 40 when he died but he didn’t seem like a 40-year-old, it was like talking to a much younger, immature person.
“He had all sorts of issues, you didn’t expect him to live to a great age but it was a shock. He died way before his time.
“The whole West story is littered with these really tragic stories, there was a lot of collateral of the West murder case.”
Barry died in August in Maidstone, but his passing has only just been revealed. Many people from Kent claiming to know him paid tribute on social media.
One person said he “was one of the truest, loyalist friends I’ve ever had.”
“You didn’t see a happy person when you met him,” added Mr Sounes, “just somebody trying to do their best.”
Barry was staying at supported living service called The Beeches on St Andrew’s Road, in Maidstone at the time of his death.
The Beeches is run by local charity Choice Support, and provides people with mental health needs with high quality self-contained flats, according to the charity’s website.
There are nine flats in the property and individuals have come from forensic hospital such as the Trevor Gibbens Unit, rehabilitation or the prison service.
The website reads: “We deliver a recovery based model of support, working with each individual to realise their personal, psychological, social, vocational and clinical outcomes.
“The idea of St Andrews is to support adults in their transition from low/medium secure forensic wards to their own accommodation requiring minimal support.”
It is not known why Barry was there or how long he stayed there for.
A charity spokesman would not confirm that Barry was a patient there, but did say: “We can confirm that a 40-year-old male resident was found deceased at a Choice Support property in Maidstone on August 28. The death has been reported to the coroner and Choice Support will be co-operating with any inquest or other inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death.”
A spokesman for Kent Police said: “At 8.55am on Friday 28 August 2020 Kent Police was called by South East Coast Ambulance Service to an address in St Andrew’s Road, Maidstone.
“A man aged in his 40s was declared deceased at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner. Next of kin have been informed.”
An inquest will be held next year.
