Rosemary West drops appeal case

Rosemary West, the serial killer jailed for the murder of 10 women, including her daughter, apologised yesterday and said she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison.

Rosemary West, the serial killer jailed for the murder of 10 women, including her daughter, apologised yesterday and said she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison.

In her first public comments since her trial, West, 48, said she would drop her appeal against the sentence in hope of "reconciliation" with her family but maintained her innocence.

West was sentenced to life in November 1995 after her trial at Winchester Crown Court heard harrowing details of the sexual abuse and violence she and her husband, Fred West, carried out for more than 20 years. She was found guilty of murdering nine women aged in their teens or early 20s, including her daughter, Heather, plus her husband's eight-year-old stepdaughter, Charmaine West.

Her first application to overturn her convictions was turned down by the Court of Appeal. Early last year, West also turned to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

But in a statement passed to a tabloid newspaper, West said she was no longer actively seeking release and knew she would never have a "normal life".