Man charged with murders of British prostitutes

LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) A man was charged yesterday with murdering five prostitutes in eastern England in the space of a few weeks, in a case that has gripped Britain.

Steven Wright, 48, is accused of murdering 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 Suffolk.

''Wright, from Ipswich, has been charged with the murder of all five women,'' Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of Suffolk police told a joint news conference with a senior prosecutor.

He would be held in custody to appear before Ipswich magistrates' court today, Michael Crimp, senior prosecutor for the Suffolk Crown Prosecution Service, told reporters.

''This evening we have made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and authorised that Wright ... should be charged,'' Crimp added.

A second man, aged 37, who had been questioned by police since Monday, was released on police bail pending further enquiries.

He has been named by British media as supermarket worker Tom Stephens. The police declined to give his identity.

GRIPPING CASE The announcements late yesterday followed a huge police investigation that has gathered momentum with the discovery of each body.

The first major breakthrough came on Monday with the arrest of the 37-year-old. Police arrested Wright, described by media as a forklift truck driver, on Tuesday.

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 was discovered in the same stream on December 8.

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

Alderton, 24, who was three months pregnant, was asphyxiated and Clennell, 24, was killed by ''compression to the neck''.

Nicholls, 29, was the fifth victim. All five were drug users.

The head of Suffolk police has said the short time span of the murders was unprecedented in recent British history.

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