Janet Leach (appropriate adult)

Janet Leach is an English social worker, known for the role she played as appropriate adult in the questioning of Fred West, one of the two perpetrators of the Gloucester serial murders, for which he and his wife Rosemary West (against whom Leach testified at trial) became notorious. The murders, first committed by Fred before he met Rosemary, and then by the two of them as co-conspirators, included the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of various young women, including their own children and stepchildren. Fred committed suicide in his cell while on remand on New Year's Day, 1995; Rosemary was convicted and became one of three women in Britain to be handed a whole life tariff (the others being Myra Hindley and, in 2014, Joanne Dennehy).

An appropriate adult is a parent, guardian, or social worker who, when a child under 18 or vulnerable adult is called in for questioning by police, helps them understand the legal process. Leach was a thirty-eight-year-old mother of five, divorced from her first husband and training to be a social worker, when in 1994 she was asked to serve in this capacity for Fred West, due to his illiteracy and the severity of the charges levelled against him.

An unpaid volunteer, Leach knew nothing about West beyond his age and illiteracy, and didn't know what he was accused of before sitting in on the interrogation. When they first met he denied killing his daughter, Heather, to detectives but later confessed to Leach, who, due to a confidentiality agreement, couldn't share the information with anyone, including police. Before West's suicide Leach spent more than 400 hours in his company, and hearing the details of his crimes created a mental strain.

Eventually, she refused to stay in the role of his appropriate adult unless he confessed to police, which he did. West had developed an attachment to Leach, describing her as his "only friend" and refusing to speak to detectives unless she was present. Leach recalled that speculation about their supposed bond was rife; due to a physical resemblance to Anne McFall, a lover of West's whom he probably murdered (before he met Rosemary), untrue rumours spread that she was related to him, or possibly one of his girlfriends.

The nature of Leach's connection with Fred West has been controversial. She stayed in contact with him even after questioning ended and there was nothing for her to do in her capacity as appropriate adult. Her son, Paul, claimed that she "fell under West's spell" and became greatly distressed when she learned that he had killed himself. Janet, however, denied this, saying that her grief was because there were still bodies to be found, and West had died before giving her all the details. She said that she kept talking to Fred to find out what had happened to his victims:

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