Husband and wife dubbed ‘Fred and Rose West’ found GUILTY of raping teenage girls

A husband and wife dubbed the ‘Fred and Rose West’ of a seaside town are facing life in jail for raping a string of young girls.

Evil wife Avril Griffiths, 61, groomed the victims for her husband Peter Griffiths, 65, to rape.

The couple were well known in the seaside town of Barry, South Wales, where they carried out multiple rapes together.

Avril Griffiths (R) and Peter Griffiths (L), leaving Cardiff Crown Court after an earlier hearing

One victim said: ‘Everyone hated them. They were the Fred and Rose West of the town – people would avoid them.’

Their third victim said: ‘I think if you ask most families in Barry, they’d hate them’.

She said she had felt ‘broken’ ever since she had been raped by Griffiths as a teenager.

The couple groomed the girl by buying her cigarettes and alcohol and Mrs Griffiths had dressed her in mini-skirts and heels to ‘maker her look like her’.

‘She was making me look like her, a mini-me,’ she told the court.

The couple were found guilty of rape, indecent assault and taking indecent photographs of children after a two-week trial.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said the pair ‘repeatedly sexually abused three young girls’ between the 1970s and 1990s.

The couple exploited three victims ‘in order to satisfy each of their sexual needs’.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the couple gave one girl vodka before forcing her to pose for indecent photos with them while they were naked.

Peter Griffiths then raped the girl and said she could not get pregnant ‘because he had a vasectomy.’

Ms Rees said the couple would also take the girl ‘dogging’ in a van painted in the colours of TV series the A-Team.

She added: ‘The male defendant would have sex with her in the back of a van while others looked on.’

The court heard the girl was passed around to other men.

Ms Rees said: ‘She was used in effect as a sex toy for the gratification of others.’

The girl was also taken on a boat in the Bristol channel where she was raped by Peter Griffiths.

Avril Griffiths also sexually assaulted the girl on the boat.

The girl later told police she had been ‘ripped apart physically’ after suffering injuries.

In a recorded police interview, the woman said: ‘There were times these things happened in the van. He would meet up with other people.

‘It was an A-Team van. It was made to look exactly like an A-Team van. Black with a red stripe.

‘They would meet up with other people in cars. I think they call it dogging these days. They would pass me round basically.’

Peter Griffiths raped another girl in bed while she was ‘held down’ by his wife.

The girl was around 13-years-old at the time.

Avril Griffiths, 61, groomed the victims for her husband Peter Griffiths, 65, to rape

Avril Griffiths, 61, groomed the victims for her husband Peter Griffiths, 65, to rape

In a psychological assessment revealed to the court, Avril Griffiths was found to have an ‘extremely low IQ’ and was labelled ‘intellectually disabled’.

The report said 99 per cent of people ‘were more able than her generally’.

Avril was found guilty of five counts of rape, three counts of taking an indecent photograph of a child and two counts of indecent assault.

Peter Griffiths was found guilty of eight counts of rape, three counts of taking an indecent photograph of a child and three counts of indecent assault.

They were remanded in custody and sentence was adjourned until October 18 for reports. 

Speaking after the sentence, Wendy Brady of the CPS said the couple treated their victims ‘as objects’.

She said: ‘Peter and Avril Griffiths worked together befriending the girls before going on to sexually abuse them.

‘They showed no regard for the welfare of the children they were abusing, treating them as objects to fulfil their sexual desires.

‘The victims have shown great courage in telling the Court what happened to them. We hope they can start to move forward knowing that Peter and Avril Griffiths have been brought to justice.’ 

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