Ipswich 2006 serial murders
Encyclopedia
The Ipswich serial murders took place between 30 October and 10 December 2006 when the bodies of five murder
ed women were discovered at different locations near Ipswich
, Suffolk
, England. All the victims were women who worked as prostitutes in the Ipswich area. Their bodies were discovered naked, but there was no sign of sexual assault
. Two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell were confirmed to have been killed by asphyxiation. A cause of death for the other victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and Annette Nicholls, was not established.
Suffolk Police
linked the killings and launched a murder investigation codenamed Operation Sumac. Due to the size of the investigation police officers were drafted from several other police forces. Two arrests were made in connection with the murders. The first suspect, who was never officially named by police, was released without charge. Forklift truck driver Steven Gerald James Wright
, then aged 48, was arrested on suspicion of murder on 19 December 2006 and charged with the murders of all five women on 21 December.
Wright was remanded in custody and his trial
began on 14 January 2008 at Ipswich
Crown Court
. Wright pleaded not guilty to the charges, although he admitted having sex with all five victims, and that he had been using prostitutes since the 1980s. DNA
and fibre evidence was presented to the court that linked Wright to the victims. He was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February 2008 and was sentenced the following day to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released from prison
.
The murders received a large amount of media
attention, both nationally and internationally. The press often compared the murders to those committed by the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe
, who murdered 13 women and attacked seven others (mostly prostitutes) between 1975 and 1981. There was some concern that the level of media coverage at the time could jeopardise any future trial. The murders also sparked debates in the media over the laws surrounding prostitution.
The body of a young woman was discovered in the water of Belstead Brook at Thorpe's Hill, near Hintlesham
, by a member of the public on 2 December 2006. The body, later identified as 25-year-old Gemma Adams, had not been sexually assaulted. Six days later, on 8 December, the body of 19-year-old Tania Nicol, a friend of Adams, who had been missing since 30 October, was discovered in water at Copdock Mill just outside Ipswich. There was no evidence of sexual assault.
On 10 December, a third victim, found by a member of the public in an area of woodland by the A14 road near Nacton
, was later identified as 24-year-old Anneli Alderton. According to a police statement, she had been asphyxia
ted and was about three months pregnant when she died.
In a press conference police warned all women to stay away from the red light district of Ipswich. On 12 December, Suffolk police announced that the bodies of two more women had been found. On 14 December, the police confirmed one of the bodies as 24-year-old Paula Clennell. Clennell had disappeared on 10 December and was last seen in Ipswich. According to Suffolk Police, Clennell died from "compression of the throat". On 15 December, the police confirmed that the other body was that of 29-year-old Annette Nicholls, who disappeared on 5 December. The bodies of Clennell and Nicholls were found in Nacton
near the Levington turn-off of the A1156
, close to where Alderton was found. A member of the public had seen Clennell's body twenty feet (six metres) from the main road and a police helicopter dispatched to the scene discovered the second body of Nicholls nearby.
Suffolk police
linked the killings and launched a murder investigation, codenamed Operation Sumac. Chief Constable
Alastair McWhirter
acknowledged that Suffolk Constabulary would be reliant on external assistance due to the magnitude of the investigation. A senior investigator with the Metropolitan Police
, Commander Dave Johnston
, was reported to have been drafted into the murder inquiry team from Scotland Yard
in London in an advisory capacity. The day-to-day investigation was conducted by Detective Chief Superintendent
Stewart Gull.
During press conferences on 13 and 14 December, DCS Gull revealed that police believed the locations where the five bodies were found to have been 'deposition sites', not murder scenes, indicating that the victims were all killed elsewhere and transported to the locations where they were later found; no comment was made on where the women may have been murdered. DCS Gull also revealed that some items of women's clothing and accessories, including a handbag and jacket, had been recovered and were being forensically tested to establish whether they belonged to any of the murdered women.
During the course of the press briefings, DCS Gull stated that over 300 police officers were involved in the investigation, and some 400-450 calls were being received daily by detectives.
On 15 December, Suffolk Constabulary's website revealed that a total of 7,300 telephone calls had been made to police regarding the investigation, and that over 300 police staff and specialists were working on the cases, with support from at least 25 other police forces. As of 18 December, the number of officers involved in the investigation had increased to 650 including 350 officers from 40 other police forces who had assisted in the inquiry. The number of calls received regarding the case had also increased to around 10,000.
by her mother 48 hours later. Her body was discovered on 8 December near Copdock Mill in a river by police divers; there was no evidence of sexual assault and a post mortem could not establish a definite cause of death. Nicol attended Chantry High School
but had left home at 16 to live in a hostel
, where she began to use heroin. Nicol, the youngest of the five victims, worked as a prostitute to fund her addiction
to heroin and cocaine
. She had originally worked in massage parlours, using the alias
of Chantelle in one, but was asked to leave on suspicion that she was using drugs. Her mother was unaware she was a prostitute, and thought she had been working in a bar or a hairdressers.
, last seen outside a BMW dealership on West End Road in Ipswich, where she had been living, disappeared on 15 November at about 01.15 (UTC). She was reported missing the same day by her partner, Jon Simpson, with whom she had been for ten years. Her body was found on 2 December, in a river at Hintlesham; she was the first of the victims to be found. Adams was found naked, in a brook, but had not been sexually assaulted. Adams had been a popular child, she came from a middle class
family and had a love of animals; as a teenager she started taking hard drugs, becoming addicted to heroin.
She had been working as a prostitute to cover the cost of her drug addiction, which had already led to her being dismissed from her job with an insurance
firm. Her partner, Simpson, was at the time also a heroin user, and was aware she was working as a prostitute, although her family were not.
, Essex
. Alderton disappeared on 3 December and was last seen on the 17.53 train from Harwich
to Manningtree
. Alderton got off the train at Manningtree at 18.15 before going on to Ipswich via another train, arriving at 18.43. Alderton's body was found on 10 December near Nacton, in woodland in front of Amberfield School
. Alderton had been asphyxiated and was found naked, and was posed in the cruciform
position. Her pregnancy was also revealed by the autopsy and her family were first informed of it by police officers. Anneli moved to Cyprus
with her mother, Maire Alderton, in 1992, after her parents separated, and they returned to Ipswich in 1997. Alderton attended Copleston High School
and gained good grades in her exams. Alderton had been addicted to drugs since age 16, shortly after her father's death from lung cancer
in 1998.
position; a definite cause of death could not be established, but her breathing had been hampered. Nicholls, the oldest victim, had been a drug addict since the early 2000s, shortly after completing a beautician's course at Suffolk College. Soon afterwards, she had started working as a prostitute to fund her addiction. After moving to a housing association
home from her council house
, Nicholls asked her mother, Rosemary, to look after her son, Farron. She was thought to be staying with a man in Ipswich at the time of her death.
and living in Ipswich, disappeared on 10 December in Ipswich at approximately 00.20. Clennell's body was found on 12 December near Levington on the same day as Nicholls'. Clennell was found naked but not sexually assaulted and a post mortem reported that she had been killed by a compression of her throat. Prior to her death, Clennell commented on the then recent murders in an interview with Anglia News, stating that despite them making her "a bit wary about getting into cars" she continued to work as "I need the money." Clennell moved to East Anglia ten years before her death, following the break-up of her parents' marriage. Clennell had three children with Elton Norris; all were taken into care
and adopted
due to her drug addiction. Clennell herself had spent some of her childhood in a referral unit, and it was shortly after being placed there that she started taking drugs.
On 18 December 2006, Suffolk Constabulary reported that they had arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of murdering all five women. The man was arrested at 07.20 at a house in Trimley St. Martin
near Felixstowe
, Suffolk.
The detention of the suspect was extended by magistrates by a further period of 24 hours, to the maximum of 96 hours allowed under English law.
On 19 December, at 05.00, police arrested a second suspect, a 48-year-old, at a residence in Ipswich, on suspicion of committing murder.
The following day, 20 December, police were granted a 36-hour extension to question the second suspect in detention. On 21 December, a joint statement was issued by DCS Gull and Michael Crimp, senior prosecutor
for the Crown Prosecution Service
in Suffolk, announcing that the second suspect identified as Steve Wright had been charged with the murder of all five women. Police said that the first suspect, who was not officially named, was released on police bail
. Bail
conditions were cancelled on 6 June 2007 for the first suspect, as no more inquiries concerning the case were planned involving this person.
and was remanded in custody to appear before a court on 1 May. At 1 May appearance, Wright formally entered a plea of not guilty. In July 2007, Wright appeared at a pre-trial hearing in London
where it was announced the trial would begin 14 January 2008.
On 14 January 2008, Wright appeared at Ipswich Crown Court ahead of his trial, which began on 16 January, with the prosecution opening their case. The court heard how the bodies of two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Annette Nicholls, were deliberately posed in the cruciform
position, with DNA
evidence linking Steve Wright to three of the victims and fibre evidence also connecting him to the victims. The defence argued that Wright was a frequenter of prostitutes, and he had "full sex" with all of the victims, barring Tania Nichols, whom he "picked up" with the intention of sexual relations, but apparently changed his mind and dropped her off back in the red light district
of Ipswich. This contradicted Wright's earlier statement when stopped by police in the district in the early hours of the morning, when he gave the police the impression he was unaware he was in the red light district and that he was driving around because he could not sleep. Wright's rented flat is located in the red light area.
On 21 January, jurors were taken to sites involved in the case. These included Wright's rented house, which they viewed only from the outside, and the areas where the victims were found.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Peter Wright QC, suggested that Steve Wright may not have acted alone, as the remains of Anneli Alderton were found some distance from the road but with no evidence that her body had been dragged by one person.
in the trial was the second group chosen for the task, as a member of the original jury had a health issue which would have been prohibitive for the trial. The jury consisted of nine men and three women. All potential jurors had to complete a questionnaire
, which asked if the candidates knew any of the victims, witnesses, or the suspect. The judge told jurors that they should not do their own research or obtain information from the media on the case. When it came time to sum up the evidence in the case, Mr. Justice Gross asked the jury to put aside their emotions stating:
On 21 February 2008, after eight hours of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict against Steve Wright on all five counts of murder. He was found guilty of murder, which carries an automatic term of life imprisonment
but the judge could decide if Wright would be awarded parole
at any point. The Prosecution QC argued that Wright should receive a Whole life tariff
and thus never be released from prison. Subsequently, on 22 February 2008, Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment and Mr. Justice Gross recommended that life should mean life, on the basis that the murders resulted from a "substantial degree of pre-meditation and planning".
After the verdict, relatives of the victims thanked the police for their efforts to solve the crime, while some expressed their feelings that life imprisonment was not enough (even if Wright were to ultimately end his life behind bars), and that he should face the death penalty. Craig Bradshaw, brother-in-law of Paula Clenell, stated:
However, other family members seemed satisfied with the verdict. The father of Gemma Adams said:
Prime minister Gordon Brown
praised the "professionalism and dedication" of the police and prosecutors involved in the case, whilst using it as an example of what he believed to be the importance of the national DNA database
.
village of Erpingham
in April 1958. Wright joined the Merchant Navy
after leaving school. In 1978, he married and had a son soon afterwards; the couple later divorced. In 1987 he married another woman; they separated in 1988, and later divorced. He worked as a dock worker, a steward on the QE2
, a lorry driver, a barman, and, just prior to his arrest, a fork-lift truck driver. He became a father again with another partner in 1992. Wright built up large debts largely through gambling, and had recently been declared bankrupt. Wright had twice tried to commit suicide
, firstly by carbon monoxide poisoning and then, in 2000, by an overdose of pills. Wright met his last partner, Pamela Wright (the shared surname
is a coincidence), in 2001 in Felixstowe, and they moved to the house in Ipswich together in 2004. Wright had always admitted that he had used prostitutes, firstly whilst in the Merchant Navy, and continuously throughout his life.
Investigations into other crimes Wright might have committed continue, including the possibility of an involvement in the Suzy Lamplugh
disappearance. However Metropolitan Police
have stated that this is not a strong line of enquiry.
The murders have been likened to those by Peter Sutcliffe
, the "Yorkshire Ripper" who was convicted of murdering 13 women (and wounding seven others), mainly those who worked as prostitutes, over a period of five years from 1975 to 1980 in northern England
;
and to "Jack the Ripper
", the infamous Victorian serial murderer who also targeted prostitutes.
As with previous serial killers dating back to Jack the Ripper, many sections of the media have attempted to coin a name for the presumed murderer, using the "Suffolk Strangler", and other terms to refer to the case.
A reward was offered, first by local business Call Connection
, who initially offered £25,000 and later raised it to £50,000. Shortly after, the News of the World
offered a £250,000 reward for leads to a direct arrest and conviction of the murderer/murderers, bringing the total reward on offer to £300,000.
Lord Goldsmith issued guidance to the media after concerns were raised by Suffolk Constabulary about the coverage and potential prejudice of a future trial. Lord Goldsmith urged the media to show restraint in what they reported about the two suspects being held, for fear of prejudicing any possible trial. A senior prosecutor on the case, Michael Crimp, also expressed his concerns that media coverage could jeopardise the trial, stating:
The first is that of prostitution in the United Kingdom
. The murders have highlighted the vulnerability of prostitutes and the lack of action taken by the government, whether to be more punitive in the hope of reducing the numbers of prostitutes on the streets, to move towards legalised brothel
s and other measures to improve the safety of the women, or to target the demand for prostitution through prosecution of the clients, as is done in Sweden
. The government has moved in the direction of tough "anti prostitution" laws which target the clients.
The government had at one point considered allowing "mini brothels", but abandoned this plan after fears that such establishments would bring pimps and drug dealers into residential areas. Instead, the laws became tougher: the Policing and Crime Act 2009
made it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been “subjected to force” and this is a strict liability offense (clients can be prosecuted even if they didn’t know the prostitute was forced).
The second is that of drug use
and whether it should be legalised or decriminalised, provided on prescription
to registered addicts, or penalised more harshly. High numbers (95% according to the Home Office
) of street prostitutes in the United Kingdom have a history of substance abuse, and prostitution is one means of funding addiction, known to be used by one of the victims, Tania Nicol.
against his five convictions for murder, as well as the trial judge's recommendation that his life sentence should mean life.
Amongst other things, Wright has claimed that the trial should not have been held in Ipswich, and that the evidence against him was not sufficient proof of his guilt, so giving him grounds for an appeal. Wright was reported to have written to the court of appeal "All five women were stripped naked of clothing/jewellery/phones/bags and no evidence was found in my house or car." Wright has also applied to receive a new solicitor
.
The news of his planned appeal sparked outrage among those affected by his crimes, including Brian Adams, father of victim Gemma Adams, who remains convinced of Wright's guilt and urged him to instead "come clean and stop wasting everyone's time". This first appeal was rejected in July 2008.
On 15 July 2008, it was announced that Steve Wright had renewed his appeal against convictions, and it would be considered by three judges in an open court hearing, the Royal Courts of Justice said. In February 2009, it was reported that Wright had dropped this bid to appeal against the convictions, though some of his family hoped to convince the Criminal Cases Review Commission
(CCRC) to take the case on.
, began filming in November 2009, and was broadcast on BBC One from 25–27 April 2010. Only a few days after the BBC's announcement of the drama, Brian Clennell, the father of Paula Clennell, complained that it would portray the victims in "a bad light". Wright's brother David also complained that it would jeopardise any future retrial. Sarah Lancashire
and Ian Hart
led the cast.
A musical play, London Road
, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre
and written by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork, is based on interviews with residents of the street in Ipswich where Steve Wright lived.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed women were discovered at different locations near Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England. All the victims were women who worked as prostitutes in the Ipswich area. Their bodies were discovered naked, but there was no sign of sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
. Two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell were confirmed to have been killed by asphyxiation. A cause of death for the other victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and Annette Nicholls, was not established.
Suffolk Police
Suffolk Constabulary
Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England.Suffolk Constabulary is responsible for policing an area of , with a population of...
linked the killings and launched a murder investigation codenamed Operation Sumac. Due to the size of the investigation police officers were drafted from several other police forces. Two arrests were made in connection with the murders. The first suspect, who was never officially named by police, was released without charge. Forklift truck driver Steven Gerald James Wright
Steve Wright (serial killer)
Steven Gerald James Wright is an English serial killer, also known as the Suffolk Strangler. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk...
, then aged 48, was arrested on suspicion of murder on 19 December 2006 and charged with the murders of all five women on 21 December.
Wright was remanded in custody and his trial
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
began on 14 January 2008 at Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
. Wright pleaded not guilty to the charges, although he admitted having sex with all five victims, and that he had been using prostitutes since the 1980s. DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
and fibre evidence was presented to the court that linked Wright to the victims. He was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February 2008 and was sentenced the following day to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released from prison
Whole life tariff
This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole life tariff through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.Eight of these prisoners have since died in prison, while three of them have had their sentences reduced on appeal, meaning that there are currently at least 48 prisoners...
.
The murders received a large amount of media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
attention, both nationally and internationally. The press often compared the murders to those committed by the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
, who murdered 13 women and attacked seven others (mostly prostitutes) between 1975 and 1981. There was some concern that the level of media coverage at the time could jeopardise any future trial. The murders also sparked debates in the media over the laws surrounding prostitution.
Police investigation
Hintlesham
Hintlesham is a small village in Suffolk, England, situated roughly halfway between Ipswich and Hadleigh.The village is notable for Hintlesham Hall, a 16th Century Grade I listed country house that was restored and turned into a hotel by the famous chef, restaurateur and food writer Robert Carrier...
, by a member of the public on 2 December 2006. The body, later identified as 25-year-old Gemma Adams, had not been sexually assaulted. Six days later, on 8 December, the body of 19-year-old Tania Nicol, a friend of Adams, who had been missing since 30 October, was discovered in water at Copdock Mill just outside Ipswich. There was no evidence of sexual assault.
On 10 December, a third victim, found by a member of the public in an area of woodland by the A14 road near Nacton
Nacton
Nacton is a civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal region of Suffolk, England, taking its name from the village within it. The parish is bounded by the neighbouring parishes of Levington to the east and Bucklesham in the north. It is located between the towns of Ipswich and Felixstowe.Nacton abuts...
, was later identified as 24-year-old Anneli Alderton. According to a police statement, she had been asphyxia
Asphyxia
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
ted and was about three months pregnant when she died.
In a press conference police warned all women to stay away from the red light district of Ipswich. On 12 December, Suffolk police announced that the bodies of two more women had been found. On 14 December, the police confirmed one of the bodies as 24-year-old Paula Clennell. Clennell had disappeared on 10 December and was last seen in Ipswich. According to Suffolk Police, Clennell died from "compression of the throat". On 15 December, the police confirmed that the other body was that of 29-year-old Annette Nicholls, who disappeared on 5 December. The bodies of Clennell and Nicholls were found in Nacton
Nacton
Nacton is a civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal region of Suffolk, England, taking its name from the village within it. The parish is bounded by the neighbouring parishes of Levington to the east and Bucklesham in the north. It is located between the towns of Ipswich and Felixstowe.Nacton abuts...
near the Levington turn-off of the A1156
A1156 road
The A1156 road runs through the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England.Formerly part of the A45, the road connects the A14 to the north-west of Ipswich to the A14 and the A12 to the south-east of Ipswich at the Seven Hills junction.-References:...
, close to where Alderton was found. A member of the public had seen Clennell's body twenty feet (six metres) from the main road and a police helicopter dispatched to the scene discovered the second body of Nicholls nearby.
Suffolk Constabulary
Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England.Suffolk Constabulary is responsible for policing an area of , with a population of...
linked the killings and launched a murder investigation, codenamed Operation Sumac. Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
Alastair McWhirter
Alastair McWhirter
Alastair McWhirter QPM MA was a British senior police officer until April 2007. Born in 1953 in Lanarkshire, he was educated at Hamilton Academy and Aberdeen University where he studied for an MA in English and History; this was followed by a Post Graduate Certificate of Education at Aberdeen...
acknowledged that Suffolk Constabulary would be reliant on external assistance due to the magnitude of the investigation. A senior investigator with the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
, Commander Dave Johnston
Dave Johnston (police officer)
Commander Dave Johnston is a senior English police officer, currently the head of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command for the Metropolitan Police....
, was reported to have been drafted into the murder inquiry team from Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
in London in an advisory capacity. The day-to-day investigation was conducted by Detective Chief Superintendent
Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief...
Stewart Gull.
During press conferences on 13 and 14 December, DCS Gull revealed that police believed the locations where the five bodies were found to have been 'deposition sites', not murder scenes, indicating that the victims were all killed elsewhere and transported to the locations where they were later found; no comment was made on where the women may have been murdered. DCS Gull also revealed that some items of women's clothing and accessories, including a handbag and jacket, had been recovered and were being forensically tested to establish whether they belonged to any of the murdered women.
During the course of the press briefings, DCS Gull stated that over 300 police officers were involved in the investigation, and some 400-450 calls were being received daily by detectives.
On 15 December, Suffolk Constabulary's website revealed that a total of 7,300 telephone calls had been made to police regarding the investigation, and that over 300 police staff and specialists were working on the cases, with support from at least 25 other police forces. As of 18 December, the number of officers involved in the investigation had increased to 650 including 350 officers from 40 other police forces who had assisted in the inquiry. The number of calls received regarding the case had also increased to around 10,000.
Tania Nicol
Tania Nicol, aged 19, from Ipswich, the first of the victims to be reported missing, disappeared on 30 October and was reported missingMissing person
A missing person is a person who has disappeared for usually unknown reasons.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
by her mother 48 hours later. Her body was discovered on 8 December near Copdock Mill in a river by police divers; there was no evidence of sexual assault and a post mortem could not establish a definite cause of death. Nicol attended Chantry High School
Chantry High School (Suffolk)
Chantry High School and Sixth Form Centre is a comprehensive school in Chantry, Ipswich, Suffolk, England.-History:In September 1962, the newly constructed comprehensive Chantry Secondary Modern opened to serve the recently established council estate of Chantry in southwest Ipswich...
but had left home at 16 to live in a hostel
Hostel
Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...
, where she began to use heroin. Nicol, the youngest of the five victims, worked as a prostitute to fund her addiction
Substance use disorder
Substance use disorders include substance abuse and substance dependence. In DSM-IV, the conditions are formally diagnosed as one or the other, but it has been proposed that DSM-5 combine the two into a single condition called "Substance-use disorder"....
to heroin and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. She had originally worked in massage parlours, using the alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Chantelle in one, but was asked to leave on suspicion that she was using drugs. Her mother was unaware she was a prostitute, and thought she had been working in a bar or a hairdressers.
Gemma Adams
Gemma Rose Adams aged 25, born in KesgraveKesgrave
Kesgrave is a small town in the English county of Suffolk on the northern edge of Ipswich.-Early history:The town was recorded as Gressgrava in the Domesday Book, by the late 15th century its name had become Kesgrave...
, last seen outside a BMW dealership on West End Road in Ipswich, where she had been living, disappeared on 15 November at about 01.15 (UTC). She was reported missing the same day by her partner, Jon Simpson, with whom she had been for ten years. Her body was found on 2 December, in a river at Hintlesham; she was the first of the victims to be found. Adams was found naked, in a brook, but had not been sexually assaulted. Adams had been a popular child, she came from a middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
family and had a love of animals; as a teenager she started taking hard drugs, becoming addicted to heroin.
She had been working as a prostitute to cover the cost of her drug addiction, which had already led to her being dismissed from her job with an insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
firm. Her partner, Simpson, was at the time also a heroin user, and was aware she was working as a prostitute, although her family were not.
Anneli Alderton
Anneli Sarah Alderton, aged 24, a mother of one who was also in the early stages of pregnancy, had been living in ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. Alderton disappeared on 3 December and was last seen on the 17.53 train from Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
to Manningtree
Manningtree
Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".Manningtree is a claimant for the...
. Alderton got off the train at Manningtree at 18.15 before going on to Ipswich via another train, arriving at 18.43. Alderton's body was found on 10 December near Nacton, in woodland in front of Amberfield School
Amberfield School
Amberfield School was a small private school in Nacton, England, coeducational up to the age of 7 years, and for girls up to the age of 16 years, which was established in 1927 and closed in 2011 due to financial problems. The last headmistress was Linda Ingram. It was set in countryside with...
. Alderton had been asphyxiated and was found naked, and was posed in the cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
position. Her pregnancy was also revealed by the autopsy and her family were first informed of it by police officers. Anneli moved to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
with her mother, Maire Alderton, in 1992, after her parents separated, and they returned to Ipswich in 1997. Alderton attended Copleston High School
Copleston High School
Copleston High School is a secondary school for ages 11–18 in Ipswich, England. It is a community comprehensive and has had Specialist Sports College status since 2001. It caters for around 1,800 students, as well as between 340-370 students in the sixth form which is shared with Holywells High...
and gained good grades in her exams. Alderton had been addicted to drugs since age 16, shortly after her father's death from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1998.
Annette Nicholls
Annette Nicholls, aged 29, a mother of one from Ipswich, was initially thought to have gone missing on 4 December, but at the trial it was revealed she was last seen in Ipswich town centre on 8 December. Her family reported her missing after they grew concerned at the news of the other murders. Nicholls' body was found on 12 December near Levington, naked but not sexually assaulted, and also posed in the cruciformCruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
position; a definite cause of death could not be established, but her breathing had been hampered. Nicholls, the oldest victim, had been a drug addict since the early 2000s, shortly after completing a beautician's course at Suffolk College. Soon afterwards, she had started working as a prostitute to fund her addiction. After moving to a housing association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...
home from her council house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
, Nicholls asked her mother, Rosemary, to look after her son, Farron. She was thought to be staying with a man in Ipswich at the time of her death.
Paula Clennell
Paula Lucille Clennell, aged 24, born in NorthumberlandNorthumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
and living in Ipswich, disappeared on 10 December in Ipswich at approximately 00.20. Clennell's body was found on 12 December near Levington on the same day as Nicholls'. Clennell was found naked but not sexually assaulted and a post mortem reported that she had been killed by a compression of her throat. Prior to her death, Clennell commented on the then recent murders in an interview with Anglia News, stating that despite them making her "a bit wary about getting into cars" she continued to work as "I need the money." Clennell moved to East Anglia ten years before her death, following the break-up of her parents' marriage. Clennell had three children with Elton Norris; all were taken into care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
and adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
due to her drug addiction. Clennell herself had spent some of her childhood in a referral unit, and it was shortly after being placed there that she started taking drugs.
Arrest of suspects
Trimley St. Martin
Trimley St. Martin is parish and village between Felixstowe and Ipswich in Suffolk, England.The village, and its neighbour Trimley St. Mary, are famous for their adjacent churches which were built as the result of a historical family feud. St...
near Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
, Suffolk.
The detention of the suspect was extended by magistrates by a further period of 24 hours, to the maximum of 96 hours allowed under English law.
On 19 December, at 05.00, police arrested a second suspect, a 48-year-old, at a residence in Ipswich, on suspicion of committing murder.
The following day, 20 December, police were granted a 36-hour extension to question the second suspect in detention. On 21 December, a joint statement was issued by DCS Gull and Michael Crimp, senior prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
for the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
in Suffolk, announcing that the second suspect identified as Steve Wright had been charged with the murder of all five women. Police said that the first suspect, who was not officially named, was released on police bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. Bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
conditions were cancelled on 6 June 2007 for the first suspect, as no more inquiries concerning the case were planned involving this person.
Court appearances
Wright appeared before magistrates in Ipswich on 22 December 2006 and was remanded in custody. On 2 January 2007, Wright appeared before Ipswich Crown CourtCrown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
and was remanded in custody to appear before a court on 1 May. At 1 May appearance, Wright formally entered a plea of not guilty. In July 2007, Wright appeared at a pre-trial hearing in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where it was announced the trial would begin 14 January 2008.
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
position, with DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
evidence linking Steve Wright to three of the victims and fibre evidence also connecting him to the victims. The defence argued that Wright was a frequenter of prostitutes, and he had "full sex" with all of the victims, barring Tania Nichols, whom he "picked up" with the intention of sexual relations, but apparently changed his mind and dropped her off back in the red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
of Ipswich. This contradicted Wright's earlier statement when stopped by police in the district in the early hours of the morning, when he gave the police the impression he was unaware he was in the red light district and that he was driving around because he could not sleep. Wright's rented flat is located in the red light area.
On 21 January, jurors were taken to sites involved in the case. These included Wright's rented house, which they viewed only from the outside, and the areas where the victims were found.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Peter Wright QC, suggested that Steve Wright may not have acted alone, as the remains of Anneli Alderton were found some distance from the road but with no evidence that her body had been dragged by one person.
Jury
The juryJury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
in the trial was the second group chosen for the task, as a member of the original jury had a health issue which would have been prohibitive for the trial. The jury consisted of nine men and three women. All potential jurors had to complete a questionnaire
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case...
, which asked if the candidates knew any of the victims, witnesses, or the suspect. The judge told jurors that they should not do their own research or obtain information from the media on the case. When it came time to sum up the evidence in the case, Mr. Justice Gross asked the jury to put aside their emotions stating:
Verdict
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
but the judge could decide if Wright would be awarded parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
at any point. The Prosecution QC argued that Wright should receive a Whole life tariff
Whole life tariff
This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole life tariff through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.Eight of these prisoners have since died in prison, while three of them have had their sentences reduced on appeal, meaning that there are currently at least 48 prisoners...
and thus never be released from prison. Subsequently, on 22 February 2008, Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment and Mr. Justice Gross recommended that life should mean life, on the basis that the murders resulted from a "substantial degree of pre-meditation and planning".
After the verdict, relatives of the victims thanked the police for their efforts to solve the crime, while some expressed their feelings that life imprisonment was not enough (even if Wright were to ultimately end his life behind bars), and that he should face the death penalty. Craig Bradshaw, brother-in-law of Paula Clenell, stated:
However, other family members seemed satisfied with the verdict. The father of Gemma Adams said:
Prime minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
praised the "professionalism and dedication" of the police and prosecutors involved in the case, whilst using it as an example of what he believed to be the importance of the national DNA database
National DNA database
A national DNA database is a government database of DNA profiles which can be used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects of crimes....
.
Steve Wright biography
Steve Gerald James Wright was born in the NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
village of Erpingham
Erpingham
Erpingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 541 in 210 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk....
in April 1958. Wright joined the Merchant Navy
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
after leaving school. In 1978, he married and had a son soon afterwards; the couple later divorced. In 1987 he married another woman; they separated in 1988, and later divorced. He worked as a dock worker, a steward on the QE2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
, a lorry driver, a barman, and, just prior to his arrest, a fork-lift truck driver. He became a father again with another partner in 1992. Wright built up large debts largely through gambling, and had recently been declared bankrupt. Wright had twice tried to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, firstly by carbon monoxide poisoning and then, in 2000, by an overdose of pills. Wright met his last partner, Pamela Wright (the shared surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
is a coincidence), in 2001 in Felixstowe, and they moved to the house in Ipswich together in 2004. Wright had always admitted that he had used prostitutes, firstly whilst in the Merchant Navy, and continuously throughout his life.
Investigations into other crimes Wright might have committed continue, including the possibility of an involvement in the Suzy Lamplugh
Suzy Lamplugh
Susannah "Suzy" Lamplugh was a British estate agent reported missing on 28 July 1986 in Fulham, South West London, England. She was officially declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994. The last clue of her whereabouts was an appointment to show a house in Shorrolds Road to someone she referred...
disappearance. However Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
have stated that this is not a strong line of enquiry.
Media coverage
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
, the "Yorkshire Ripper" who was convicted of murdering 13 women (and wounding seven others), mainly those who worked as prostitutes, over a period of five years from 1975 to 1980 in northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
;
and to "Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
", the infamous Victorian serial murderer who also targeted prostitutes.
As with previous serial killers dating back to Jack the Ripper, many sections of the media have attempted to coin a name for the presumed murderer, using the "Suffolk Strangler", and other terms to refer to the case.
A reward was offered, first by local business Call Connection
Call Connection
Call Connection is a call handling centre based in Ipswich, Suffolk.The company ranked 52nd in The Times "100 best places to work, 2007" and 54th in 2008...
, who initially offered £25,000 and later raised it to £50,000. Shortly after, the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
offered a £250,000 reward for leads to a direct arrest and conviction of the murderer/murderers, bringing the total reward on offer to £300,000.
Concerns about the media coverage
On 21 December 2006, the then Attorney GeneralAttorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Lord Goldsmith issued guidance to the media after concerns were raised by Suffolk Constabulary about the coverage and potential prejudice of a future trial. Lord Goldsmith urged the media to show restraint in what they reported about the two suspects being held, for fear of prejudicing any possible trial. A senior prosecutor on the case, Michael Crimp, also expressed his concerns that media coverage could jeopardise the trial, stating:
Coverage of related issues
The murders refocused press attention on a number of controversial issues in British politics.The first is that of prostitution in the United Kingdom
Prostitution in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, prostitution itself is not a crime, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning a brothel, pimping and pandering, are crimes....
. The murders have highlighted the vulnerability of prostitutes and the lack of action taken by the government, whether to be more punitive in the hope of reducing the numbers of prostitutes on the streets, to move towards legalised brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s and other measures to improve the safety of the women, or to target the demand for prostitution through prosecution of the clients, as is done in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The government has moved in the direction of tough "anti prostitution" laws which target the clients.
The government had at one point considered allowing "mini brothels", but abandoned this plan after fears that such establishments would bring pimps and drug dealers into residential areas. Instead, the laws became tougher: the Policing and Crime Act 2009
Policing and Crime Act 2009
The Policing and Crime Act 2009 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision about police reform, prostitutes, sex offenders, sex establishments and certain other premises...
made it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been “subjected to force” and this is a strict liability offense (clients can be prosecuted even if they didn’t know the prostitute was forced).
The second is that of drug use
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
and whether it should be legalised or decriminalised, provided on prescription
Medical prescription
A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....
to registered addicts, or penalised more harshly. High numbers (95% according to the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
) of street prostitutes in the United Kingdom have a history of substance abuse, and prostitution is one means of funding addiction, known to be used by one of the victims, Tania Nicol.
Appeal
On 19 March 2008, it was announced that Wright would be lodging an appealAppeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
against his five convictions for murder, as well as the trial judge's recommendation that his life sentence should mean life.
Whole life tariff
This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole life tariff through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.Eight of these prisoners have since died in prison, while three of them have had their sentences reduced on appeal, meaning that there are currently at least 48 prisoners...
Amongst other things, Wright has claimed that the trial should not have been held in Ipswich, and that the evidence against him was not sufficient proof of his guilt, so giving him grounds for an appeal. Wright was reported to have written to the court of appeal "All five women were stripped naked of clothing/jewellery/phones/bags and no evidence was found in my house or car." Wright has also applied to receive a new solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
.
The news of his planned appeal sparked outrage among those affected by his crimes, including Brian Adams, father of victim Gemma Adams, who remains convinced of Wright's guilt and urged him to instead "come clean and stop wasting everyone's time". This first appeal was rejected in July 2008.
On 15 July 2008, it was announced that Steve Wright had renewed his appeal against convictions, and it would be considered by three judges in an open court hearing, the Royal Courts of Justice said. In February 2009, it was reported that Wright had dropped this bid to appeal against the convictions, though some of his family hoped to convince the Criminal Cases Review Commission
Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is an non-departmental public body set up following the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice itself a continuation of the May Inquiry. It aims to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
(CCRC) to take the case on.
Dramatisations
The BBC Drama department commissioned a dramatisation of the murders and the investigation from screenwriter Stephen Butchard. The three-part production, entitled Five DaughtersFive Daughters
Five Daughters is a British television drama mini-series starring Ian Hart, Sarah Lancashire, Jaime Winstone and Juliet Aubrey. Set in 2006, it is about the five victims of the Ipswich serial murders and how the crime affected their families...
, began filming in November 2009, and was broadcast on BBC One from 25–27 April 2010. Only a few days after the BBC's announcement of the drama, Brian Clennell, the father of Paula Clennell, complained that it would portray the victims in "a bad light". Wright's brother David also complained that it would jeopardise any future retrial. Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire is an English actress, probably best recognised for her role as Raquel Watts in Coronation Street. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986.-Television:...
and Ian Hart
Ian Hart
Ian Hart is an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:Hart, the grandson of Irish immigrants, was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He is one of three siblings and was brought up in a Roman Catholic family...
led the cast.
A musical play, London Road
London Road (musical)
London Road is a musical written by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork . The production, directed by Rufus Norris, opened at the National Theatre's Cottesloe theatre in London, United Kingdom, on 14 April 2011 after seven previews.-Overview:The musical is set in and around London Road in Ipswich,...
, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
and written by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork, is based on interviews with residents of the street in Ipswich where Steve Wright lived.
External links
- Drugs are the curse of our land and turn women into prostitutes - Simon HefferSimon HefferSimon James Heffer is a British journalist, columnist and writer.-Education:Heffer was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Career:...
- Daily Telegraph, 13 December 2006 - Why these women are paying the price of a zero tolerance approach to street prostitution - Deborah OrrDeborah OrrDeborah Jane Orr is a British journalist and broadcaster who works for The Guardian newspaper. She was born and raised in Motherwell, Scotland.-Career:...
- The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 13 December 2006 - How we let Gemma and Tania down - The case for legalised prostitution is clear - Alice Miles - The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 13 December 2006