 Philip John Smith was born in 1965 at the City Maternity Hospital in Gloucester and grew up in the city . The son of sawmill labourer Henry John Smith and his wife Rose Smith ( née Luckins ) , he was the oldest of five siblings . The family lived in Midland Road , where they were neighbours of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West , before moving to Hailes Road on the Coney Hill Estate in 1971 . He attended Coney Hill Infants and Junior School and later went to a special school for children with learning difficulties . The family had a modest income , and their situation became worse when Smith 's father was injured in a motoring accident . Smith left school at 14 to join Billy Danter 's Funfair , which toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom and also employed his father . He worked out of season as a farmhand , labourer and security guard . 
