'Pain left by actor who abused us is there forever'

Actor Alexander Westwood carried retired a catalogue of intersexual abuse, and was jailed connected Tuesday for offences that included rape.

The lawsuit centred connected the acquisition of 5 victims, 4 of whom were children astatine the time, with the youngest aged six.

In immoderate instances, Westwood, from Albrighton, Shropshire - who appeared arsenic a inheritance subordinate successful high-profile TV dramas - utilized his assemblage to alteration his behaviour, ensnaring 2 girls to whom helium offered acting lessons. Others fell into his sphere successful antithetic ways.

Since his condemnation successful December, the BBC has spoken to 2 of his victims and the parent of another. What follows is an relationship of the ordeal - by those whose lives helium darkened.

It is an relationship that 24-year-old Westwood - an other connected Netflix bid Sex Education and The BBC's Doctors - hoped you would ne'er read.

All names person been changed to sphere anonymity.

"Nothing volition ever instrumentality the symptom away," said Jayne.

Her girl was 1 of the children Westwood abused.

The offending came to airy erstwhile the miss confided successful a household friend, immoderate years aft it began, that she had been abused by Westwood implicit a sustained period.

Jayne was alerted and past spoke to her daughter, asking her to constitute down everything that had happened.

"I felt sick speechmaking what he'd done to her," Jayne said. "And it was a precise agelong list."

She told the BBC: "He frightened her into not being capable to talk retired truthful she carried this concealed for a precise agelong time."

From that constituent it took 3 years for the lawsuit to get to court, with Jayne calling each time "a surviving nightmare".

"It's a precise agelong clip to unrecorded that, day-in day-out, and it consumes you, [it] takes implicit the full of your life."

As for her daughter, she said: "She can't eat, she can't sleep. Even to this time she wakes up having nightmares that he's astatine the bottommost of her bed."

The revelation of Westwood's maltreatment has shaken the family, and adjacent though helium is down bars, Jayne knows that nary condemnation volition ever instrumentality distant what helium has done.

"The pain's determination forever," she said.

"He boils my blood. I hatred him."

"He mislaid a video crippled and deed maine implicit the caput with an Xbox controller," Anna-Marie remembered of Westwood.

She was 17 astatine the clip and helium was her boyfriend, aged astir 19.

His sentencing connected Tuesday reflects his intersexual battle of her on with his different crimes.

They met successful the West Midlands aft helium sent her a nonstop connection connected Instagram. Dates followed.

Anna-Marie said she remembered her parent telling her to beryllium cautious astir "love bombing" erstwhile Westwood bought her tickets to ticker her imagination West End show. They had been unneurotic for conscionable 2 weeks.

"Until we moved successful together, I'd accidental helium was a spot arrogant but conscionable a mean idiosyncratic seemingly," she said.

"But erstwhile we moved in, [the situation] was conscionable escalating and escalating."

She told the BBC that constabulary were called to Birmingham New Street railway presumption erstwhile helium started shouting astatine her. She besides described incidents wherever helium had smashed drinking glasses and plates.

Then came the incidental with the video game.

"He was telling my ma I needed to beryllium committed to a psychiatric institution," Anna-Marie recalled. "He was telling maine 'you request to beryllium connected medication, you're crazy'."

The mates separated.

Anna-Marie was aboriginal contacted by constabulary arsenic portion of inquiries into the wider lawsuit and her intersexual battle emerged to prosecutors.

She present suffers from anxiousness and insomnia, and is connected high-dose sleeping medication. "Otherwise I volition virtually person nightmares of him grabbing maine and smiling," she said.

She added: "I consciousness acrophobic a batch of the clip erstwhile I spell to caller cities, oregon adjacent successful my city.

"It's fundamentally crippled my life."

About 8 years ago, successful an country of the West Midlands, Elsie was successful a narration with Westwood erstwhile she was 13 and helium was 16.

They had started arsenic friends with akin interests, but Elsie says the narration rapidly developed.

She told the BBC that aft a fewer months, Westwood pressured her into intersexual behaviour, sending her web links to contented helium would inquire her to imitate with him.

"It decidedly didn't consciousness normal," she said.

"However, the mode that helium was with maine made maine consciousness precise secure, truthful I benignant of thought 'I would spot this guy, wherefore would helium bash thing to wounded me'?

But determination was manipulation.

"He would accidental things to maine similar 'if you don't bash it with me, radical my ain property will', and I didn't privation to suffer that transportation with him due to the fact that it was 1 I truly relied connected rather quickly.

"At 13, feeling you've mislaid your archetypal ever narration you've had - helium was the archetypal implicit everything for maine – it was terrifying."

Elsie's experience, however, did not signifier portion of the trial.

She said that erstwhile constabulary became alert of the narration - portion it was inactive happening - and arrested him, Westwood reassured her it was conscionable a "grey country successful the law" and that they would some beryllium fine.

The lawsuit did not continue, though it was reopened years aboriginal erstwhile different allegations astir Westwood emerged, but the enquiry again did not proceed.

Elsie thought her acquisition would past signifier portion of the lawsuit that was tried successful December, but she said erstwhile she attended proceedings, she was told constabulary had mislaid video grounds from erstwhile she was 13.

She besides told the BBC a constabulary serviceman successful the tribunal told the prosecution that Elsie had not wanted to bring charges against Westwood - which was not the case.

The claims were enactment to the West Midlands unit which said it investigated an allegation against Westwood pursuing a 3rd enactment study that helium had incited intersexual enactment with a kid aged nether 16.

"Unfortunately, owed to a deficiency of forensic and integer grounds the study was filed," a spokesperson said, adding, however, "the probe was re-opened successful 2023 astatine the petition of the CPS" which was reviewing charges against Westwood.

"We submitted a record to CPS and connected reappraisal they decided they wouldn't beryllium pursuing a complaint for this case."

"CPS offered the unfortunate a Right to Review, but this was declined."

Elsie says she is present near reasoning perpetually astir the grounds that did get heard successful court.

"I went successful truly not knowing what I would perceive and it was worse than I could ever person really imagined it would be," she said.

"I sat determination and I don't deliberation I volition ever retrieve from proceeding that, and what he's done to people."

Years aft her narration with Westwood, Elsie said she felt fto down that authorities did not bash much to assistance astatine the time.

"It's inactive ever going to play connected my mind, wherefore didn't [my] schoolhouse support maine more, wherefore didn't radical successful my beingness adjacent to maine propulsion to effort to get things retired of me, wherefore didn't the constabulary accidental 'look this is truly rather serious' to me?

"The information he's ever laid his hands connected maine makes maine privation to die. It's arsenic elemental arsenic that.

"I could not beryllium much disgusted by idiosyncratic if I tried. I deliberation he's evil."

Jayne, Elsie, and Anna-Marie each told the BBC they believed Westwood's relation arsenic an histrion had enabled his behaviour.

Jayne said: "He's utilized that to his ain vantage to maltreatment respective girls."

The 3 besides spoke of Westwood's narcissism, with Elsie saying his "ego shone through" adjacent portion successful the dock.

She said: "I deliberation proceeding the interaction he's had connected radical helium would really astir apt rather like."

Jayne echoed the view, adding: "I deliberation helium appears to similar the limelight. He likes the attention."

But amid that judgment, determination is besides praise - for the victims, for their bravery.

"I'm arrogant of [my daughter]," said Jayne.

"I'm arrogant of her for lasting up to him, I'm arrogant of her for having the spot to spell done court."