A BUNGLING bookshop put a memoir on serial killer Rose West in a display of “perfect” gifts for Mother’s Day. The Works, in Eastleigh, apologised after a stunned shopper told staff it was “very poor taste” to have the book detailing childhood abuse as a present for mums. Shopper Sheila Kimber complained when she saw […]
A BUNGLING bookshop put a memoir on serial killer Rose West in a display of “perfect” gifts for Mother’s Day.
The Works, in Eastleigh, apologised after a stunned shopper told staff it was “very poor taste” to have the book detailing childhood abuse as a present for mums.
Shopper Sheila Kimber complained when she saw Love As Always, Mum xxx, by West’s oldest daughter Mae, which details what her mother did to her.
It takes its name from letters West sent to her daughter, which she would always sign off “love as always, mum xxx”.
West was convicted of ten murders, carried out with husband Fred in the 1970s and 80s, including the sickening killings of her daughter Heather, 16, and eight year old step-daughter Charmaine.
Mrs Kimber, 64, of Eastleigh, said: “The book is all about Rose West and her crimes and was displayed quite prominently in a ‘Gifts for Mother’s Day’ section.
“It was in very poor taste to include a book about a woman who abused her children.
“When I expressed my displeasure to a member of staff she just said they’d been told by head office what to put out.
“If I worked there I’d have refused to include the book. I am really pleased it has now been removed.
“The Rose West case was several years ago and the decision to include the book in the display might have been taken by a younger member of staff to whom her name didn’t really mean anything.
“But it wasn’t the place for a book of that sort. I imagine quite a few people found it offensive.”
A spokesman for The Works said: “We apologise if the placing of this item caused any offence. It has now been removed from the display across all stores.”
While Rose was jailed for life after a trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, in 1995, husband Fred, who was charged with 12 murders, was never convicted, having committed suicide while on remand in prison in Birmingham, West Mids.
During her trial, Rose denied any involvement in the deaths, claiming her husband was the sole killer, but jurors did not believe her claims, unanimously convicting them.
During her 31-day trial, jurors sat through what has been described as some of the most shocking evidence ever heard in a British court.
Most of the killings were committed at the Wests’ home – 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester between 1971 and 1987.
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