Abuse claim mum jailed with killers
A MOTHER-of-two found herself in prison alongside killer Rose West and the mother of tragic toddler Baby P simply for trying to be reunited with her children.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, came face-to-face with serial killer West and Tracey Connelly, who was jailed for allowing her 17-month-old son Peter to be tortured to death by her boyfriend and his brother.
The woman was behind bars for leaving gifts and letters for her children at the front door of her exhusband’s house.
The 50-year-old ended up in high security Low Newton Prison, Durham, with some of the country’s most notorious female prisoners for breaking a restraining order designed to keep her away from her former husband, who she has accused of abusing their children.
Police investigated her claims and passed a file to prosecutors who brought the case to court.
But the man was found not guilty.
The heartbroken mother has battled for 10 years for the right to be with her children and has been put in prison four times because of her need to be reunited with her offspring.
She said yesterday: “I have always been in high security because it’s my local prison but I was in Low Newton with the likes of Rose West and Tracey Connelly.
“There were lifers in there who had committed major crimes. I was in there fighting for the protection of my children,” she said.
“I knew Rose West was in that prison, I was within a foot of her in the corridors and was stood behind her in the dining hall.
“It was an awful feeling knowing that I was an arm’s length away.
“She would glare at me because I knew what she was in there for – I was fighting for my children, but she had killed children.
“It was soul-destroying.” The mother claimed she was “bullied” behind bars and would remain in her cell because “some of the girls would spit into [her] dinner.”
Torturous
“I started to refuse to go down into the dining hall and would fear for my life,” she added.
“I would see Baby P’s mum [Connelly] but would refuse to leave my cell at the time because I did not want to be on the same work placement as her.
“I had nightmares in jail and I still wake up screaming.
“I said, ‘Is Rose West in here because I do not want to be in prison with the likes of her’ – it was torturous.”
She said being apart from her children was like having her “heart pulled out” and she would not stop fighting to be allowed to see them again.
Because of her plight, she has chosen to back the Daily Express End This Injustice campaign.
The mother alleged that one of her children told her that they had been abused by her ex-husband and a police investigation led to charges being brought against him.
But not guilty verdicts were entered after prosecutors concluded “there was insufficient evidence to proceed”.
They also deemed that she had “fabricated the account” during the case.
This was the reason why she stopped her ex-husband from seeing her children following their split, she claimed.