I felt like the walls were closing in. All I could see was Fred West's face': how one woman escaped Britain's worst serial killers

"Kathleen Richards knows how lucky she is to be alive. In 1979, she woke up in bed to find the serial killer Fred West on top of her. It was by no means the first time West had assaulted the 17-year-old, but it was the last. This time, she managed to escape from the room she was renting at 25 Cromwell Street, perhaps Britain's most notorious address, where Fred and Rose West raped, tortured and murdered so many girls and young women."

"In her own way, Richards has also been serving a life sentence. Today, she is a youthful, likable and traumatised 65-year-old. How could she not be damaged by all she experienced? Although she gave vital evidence at Rose West's trial that helped get her convicted, she never told the police what Fred had subjected her to. Nor did she tell her nearest and dearest. She couldn't. She didn't know how to."

Kathleen Richards was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Fred West while renting a room at 25 Cromwell Street and escaped in 1979. She later testified in Rose West's trial but concealed the full extent of Fred's abuse from police and family for decades. Fred West died by suicide while on remand; Rose West was convicted and given a whole-life sentence. Richards grew up in poverty in Dublin with strict, neglectful parents, a background that increased her vulnerability to abusers. She experienced long-term trauma and isolation and ultimately exposed the cycle of repeated victimisation and resilience.

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