Police refuse to label murderer as serial killer

POLICE hunting the murderer of the Ipswich prostitutes have repeatedly avoided the use of the term “serial killer”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is leading the Suffolk Police investigation, said yesterday that there were significant differences from murderers such as Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

Although coined in the US in the 1970s, the term “serial killer” is regularly applied to historical figures such as Jack the Ripper.