Neighbours say suspect was ‘a bit of a weirdo’

NEIGHBOURS of the man arrested on suspicion of murdering five prostitutes in Suffolk said they had seen him acting strangely in recent months.

The man, Tom Stephens, moved into the house on Jubilee Close three months ago.

He lived in one of four flats in a brick house in a quiet residential area.

Lesley-Anne Barber, 50, said she had seen the man wearing tight Lycra shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt in his garden in November.

Her garden backs onto his and she told how she had seen him digging in his garden. “He used to just wander around in the back garden. He didn’t seem the sort of person that would want to have anything to do with anyone. If he went to the back to the dustbins he would not acknowledge that we were there. He was a bit of a weirdo.”

Ms Barber said she always saw him on his own apart from once when he embraced another man with a hug and a kiss. “He was the sort of person who thought he was a cut above everybody else,” she said.

Her neighbour, who only wanted to be referred to as Ms Wynel, also saw him digging. “He always seemed to be digging in the garden.” She said police had visited the property about a month ago and were using metal detectors in the garden.

She said there were a number of forensic officers, all wearing full-length white jump suits.

She also said police examined a small purple car, possibly a Renault Clio, which was carried away on a transporter early yesterday.

Ms Wynel, who has a teenage daughter living at home, said: “I just feel sick to the stomach, this is just on our own doorstep.

“How would you feel living at the back of someone who has been arrested in connection with this when you have a teenage daughter living at home? It takes a lot of explaining to tell her she can’t go out as there is a murderer on the loose.”

David Robinson, 58, also has a garden which backs onto that of the suspect’s. He said he heard police activity yesterday morning as the man was arrested.

He said: “I heard police and saw the cordon going up.”

Specialist officers were seen in the area about two weeks ago.

He said: “I believe they searched a car and the ground around the house.”

He said the neighbourhood was usually quiet and people were shocked that someone had been arrested.

One of the neighbours who saw much of the police activity was Geoffrey Bond, a 53-year-old who has lived in the area for 23 years.

His house is opposite the one which has been cordoned off. He said: “About a week and a half ago forensic teams were at that house for four to five hours. They took some stuff away.”