They slept in the same bed.
Fred and John West were incredibly close as youngsters, even sharing the same bed in their village home.They had another brother and three sisters - but it was Fred and John - a year and three days younger than his brother - who were inseparable.
The two shared a fear of their disciplinarian father, cowman Walter, and 20-stone mother Daisy, who ruled the household at Much Marcle, Gloucs, with a rod of iron.
Both boys were afraid of their late mum's temper and her ability to swing a leather belt she wore around her ample girth.
Neighbours recalled how Daisy would beat John, but generally treated Fred as her favourite "blue-eyed boy."
At school, Fred never lost his temper and it was John who fought the playground battles. Pals remember he would step in if a boy objected to Fred going off with his girlfriend.
He saw Fred as a hero, but they were also rivals, dating the same girls.
When John got money, they shared a second-hand Ford Popular and visited local towns to "pull the girls".
The extent of their bond was illustrated just five minutes before Fred married Scots-born waitress Rena Costello - his first known victim.
He offered John a fiver to marry Rena, who was pregnant with Fred's baby. John refused - but was a witness.
According to Fred's son Stephen, the two men "always had a strange relationship."
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| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
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| Date: | Nov 29, 1996 |
| Words: | 230 |
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