Missed opportunity to stop Fred and Rose West as they were slapped with £50 fine instead

It was the moment should have been stopped. But instead of facing prison, the killer couple got let off with a £50 fine and a slap on the wrist.

The couple were convicted of (formerly Caroline Owens) in January 1973, a former nanny, who they had abducted and drugged. She was just 16 years old when she hitched a ride with the couple and took the job as their nanny.

Weeks after she quit, the Wests picked her up again and took her back to their home on where she was abused. Her attack took place in 1972, and she reported it to the police straight away.

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But following the trauma, she couldn't face the emotional toll of a court hearing, and the pair were fined just £50 over the attack.

She later claimed "Rose put a pillow over my head" and Fred threatened to kill her and bury her "in the paving stones".

But in 1995, Caroline did take the stand. She went on to describe her ordeal in the books The Lost Girl and The One That Got Away.

Although she survived the attack and went on to have three children, she died in 2016 after battling cancer. Now, a new documentary details how the couple got away with their crimes for years before being caught.

Frederick Walter Stephen West was an English serial killer who committed at least 12 murders, including his daughter Heather, between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire.

The majority of them were with his second wife, Rosemary "Rose" West, taking place in 25 Cromwell Street, which was dubbed the "House of Horrors" when the shocking crimes came to light.

Rose, who was born in Northam, Devon, met Fred, aged 15, when he was 13 years older at Cheltenham bus station.

Fred, then living in a caravan, pursued the teenager, and within weeks, she became a nanny to his children, Charmaine and Anna Marie.

The couple tortured, murdered and raped their victims with some buried under the cellar floor in the house. In total, Fred killed at least 12 victims, with Rose taking part in at least nine of them.

All of the victims were young women, with eight of the murders involving rape, bondage, torture and mutilation. Fred fatally asphyxiated himself while detained on remand at HM Prison Birmingham on January 1 1995, at which time he and Rose were jointly charged with nine murders, and he with three further murders.

In November 1995, Rose was convicted of 10 murders and sentenced to ten life terms with a whole life order.

Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story is available to stream on Netflix from Wednesday, May 14.

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