Fred West’s daughter criticises ITV

Anne Marie Davis, 46, says Appropriate Adult will cause ‘unimaginable distress’ to victims’ families Fred West’s daughter Anne Marie Davis has broken a 10-year silence to criticise an ITV drama on the “untold story” of how the serial killer and his wife, Rosemary, were brought to justice. Davis, whose mother Rena Costello and half-sisters Charmaine and Heather were all murdered, says the two-part show will revive deeply traumatic memories for the families of the Wests’ victims. “I felt physically sick when I heard about the plans to turn the tragic events which devastated so many people’s lives into a TV drama,” she said. “I haven’t spoken about this for 10 years, and the only reason I am speaking now is because I want ITV to realise they will be causing unimaginable distress to the families of the young girls who were murdered. “No one should kid themselves. The object of this drama is to make money. But the programme makers have to recognise that a lot of vulnerable young women died. “They were real people and their loved ones are real people too who are still suffering and their wounds will only be reopened by a TV drama like this.” The ITV drama, Appropriate Adult, is to focus on the period between Fred West’s arrest and his suicide in prison on New Year’s Day 1995, as he awaited trial for 12 murders. Dominic West, the British star of The Wire, is playing the Gloucester builder, and Monica Dolan has been cast as Rosemary West, who is in prison for 10 murders. The “appropriate adult” referred to is the voluntary social worker Janet Leach, who sat in on police interviews with West because of concerns over his ability to understand the proceedings. She is being played by Emily Watson, who has described the drama as “tasteful” and “dark … but not nasty”. Davis, 46, said: “If the story is scripted from my father’s arrest it will cover the time when all those poor victims were found. I will never forget the images of police officers carrying their remains out of 25 Cromwell Street in crates. “I know how traumatic my own losses have been, but I cannot possibly imagine the pain the other families have suffered and are continuing to suffer.” Davis added: “I knew Fred and Rose were dangerous people, but I didn’t realise how dangerous. I knew they were involved in incest and paedophilia, but I thought it was confined to me. “These are not fictional characters, but extremely complex individuals who only shared their darkest secrets with each other.” Davis, who works in a Gloucester supermarket, said: “I have had customers come up to me and say, ‘Is there anything you can do to stop this programme – or anything we can do?’ “All I can say is that a lot of women and young girls lost their lives in desperately tragic circumstances and they deserve to be remembered – not to be seen as mere public property.” ITV says Appropriate Adult is being produced by the team responsible for previous dramatisations of the Moors murders and the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. An ITV spokeswoman said: “Appropriate Adult is a factual drama which focuses on the involvement of Janet Leach who was appointed as appropriate adult in the police interviews Fred West gave during the investigation. “We have sought to contact as many relatives and victims as we could with assistance from the police, to let them know about the project and try to address any concerns they may have. “We have conducted dozens of interviews with individuals directly involved in the case over several years. It is certainly not ITV’s wish to cause distress to the families of the Wests’ victims, or their children, and Appropriate Adult does not contain any recreation of the actual crimes themselves. But we believe the factual drama genre is a valid form in which to explore and throw new light on real events.” ITV Crime Television industry Television Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.