Rose West had a torrid love affair with Myra Hindley in prison before dumping her for being 'dangerous' and 'manipulative'
Rose West and Myra Hindley, two of Britain's most notorious female prisoners, had a roller-coaster love affair in prison, according to a former defense lawyer for one of the killers.
Leo Goatley represented West for 12 years and even at her trial in 1995. According to him, Fred West's ex-wife was fascinated with the Moors Murderer after being "impressed by her knowledge and ability", the Daily Star reports. However, the pair's torrid affair while being held at HMP Durham allegedly ended after a few months, the former lawyer said, when West told him Hindley was "dangerous" and "very manipulative".
'Understanding Fred & Rose West', Goatley's new book on the killer duo, is coming out this month ahead of the 25th anniversary of Fred's suicide at HMP Birmingham, which took place on New Year's Day 1995.
Goatley said he had no doubts that Rose was guilty of killing 10 girls and young women at her family's 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester residence, later deemed the House of Horrors.
According to the top lawyer, West and Hindley first met in the hospital wing at HMP Durham in late 1995 after the latter injured herself in the exercise yard. "Yeah, Myra, she's alright, we get on, I want to see how it goes," West allegedly told him of Hindley.
Goatley said the duo had "a flowering, albeit short-lived lesbian relationship."
"When I visited a few months later, Rose's opinion of Hindley had changed dramatically," the lawyer recounted. "She was saying, 'you have to watch Hindley, mind. She is very manipulative. You don't realize it, but she gets you doing stuff for her."
"Oh, she's clever all right. She's flippin' dangerous, that one," West continued. "She ain't going to take me for a c*** again.'" And that, Goatley said, "heralded the end of the romance."
According to him, West had a series of female relationships in jail, saying many were "supportive" and "sexual", but that some were often "unstable" and could "end in resentment". The 65-year-old is currently being held at HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorks.
Hindley died in 2002 at age 60. She and her partner Ian Brady were convicted in 1966 for murdering Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17. Furthermore, she was also deemed an accomplice in the murder of John Kilbride, 12, who was killed by her partner.
Then, in 1987, the pair confessed to ending the lives of Keith Bennett, 12, and Pauline Reade, 16. Brady passed away in May 2017 at age 79. Hindley became close to West after the latter was jailed, and the pair were often seen holding hands.