Man charged with British prostitute murders

By Staff
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IPSWICH, England, Dec 22 (Reuters) A man appeared in court today charged with murdering five prostitutes in eastern England in less than two months, in a case that has gripped Britain.

Steven Wright is accused of killing Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls, whose naked bodies were found dumped at rural locations around the town of Ipswich in the county of Suffolk.

The 48-year-old, reported by British media to be a forklift truck driver, arrived at Ipswich magistrates' court in a police van flanked by two cars.

He appeared smartly dressed and flanked by police officers for the brief court hearing. He was remanded in custody to appear at the town's Crown Court on January 2.

''The most important thing for people to remember is my client is presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law,'' Paul Osler, Wright's lawyer, told BBC News. He said his client was ''bearing up well''.

He appealed for restraint from the media, which has scrutinised every twist and turn of the inquiry on television, online and in newspapers since the murders hit the headlines three weeks ago when the first body was found.

''It's absolutely vital that that be the case and everybody must bear at the forefront of their mind -- innocent until convicted,'' he said.

JACK THE RIPPER The case evokes those of Jack the Ripper, the 19th century London prostitute killer who was never found, and Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, who killed 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England between 1975 and 1980.

A second man, who had been questioned by police since Monday, was released on police bail yesterday pending further inquiries.

He has been named by British media as 37-year-old supermarket worker Tom Stephens although the police have declined to confirm his identity.

The developments followed a huge police investigation that gathered momentum with the discovery of each body.

Detectives launched the investigation on December 2 when 25-year-old Adams's body was found in a stream. The body of 19-year-old Nicol -- last seen on October 30 and the first to be reported missing -- was discovered in the same stream on December 8.

The other three bodies were found over the next four days.

Alderton, a 24-year-old who was three months pregnant, was asphyxiated and Clennell, also 24, was killed by ''compression to the neck'', authorities said. Twenty-nine-year-old Nicholls was the fifth victim. All five were drug users.

REUTERS SP KN1705

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