Second man arrested over murder of prostitutes

A SECOND man was being questioned last night over the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich, in a move police sources described as “significant”.

The 48-year-old man — named locally as Steve Wright — was arrested at his home in the centre of Ipswich near the red light district early yesterday.

On Monday, a 37-year-old man, named by sources as supermarket worker Tom Stephens, was arrested at his home in Trimley St Martin.

Detectives said both men were being questioned on suspicion of murdering Gemma Adams, 25; Tania Nicol, 19; Anneli Alderton, 24; Paula Clennell, 24; and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Detectives last night said a magistrate had given them a further 36 hours to continue questioning Mr Stephens.

Police have a deadline today to question Mr Wright.

Then they must ask a senior officer for permission to hold him for a further 12 hours.

Forensic officers and search teams spent the day at both men’s addresses.

Police cordoned off part of a road in central Ipswich near Mr Wright’s home.

Friends said Mr Wright had moved there from another address in Ipswich a few months ago.

The bodies of the five women were found during a 10-day spell near villages south of Ipswich earlier this month.

All were naked, but police said they had not been sexually assaulted.

Officers said Ms Alderton had been strangled and Ms Clennell had died as a result of “compression” to the neck. The causes of death were unclear for the other three women and toxicology tests were being carried out, they said.

Members of Mr Wright’s family were last night at their home in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where they were visited by two plain-clothes policemen. Forensic teams also searched the home of Mr Stephens’s mother near Ipswich.

News of the second arrest was announced early yesterday by Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Gull, who is leading the investigation. He said both men were being held at police stations in Suffolk.

Mr Stephens’s ex-wife Judith was yesterday unavailable for comment.

A neighbour said she was “feeling low”.

Police sources said Mr Stephens had worked as a special constable in Norfolk in the 1990s and as a taxi driver in Ipswich.

Mr Wright is a lorry driver based in Mendlesham, north of Ipswich.

He moved to London Road three months ago with his partner Pam, who works in IT support at a call centre in Felixstowe.

Last night, friends comforted Mrs Wright as she came to terms with the arrest.

Sheila Davis, the landlady of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a pub in central Ipswich, near where the couple used to live, said: “Pam is distraught. She doesn’t believe it and thinks it has all been concocted. She is shattered and tired. She is not allowed to go home and she is not allowed to speak to him.”

Steve Morris, who runs Silks Racing bookmakers, said Mr Wright used to go in “every couple of weeks” to place a bet.

Meanwhile, inquests into four of the five murdered women are to open today.

The inquests into the deaths of Ms Nicol, Ms Alderton, Ms Nicholls and Ms Clennell will be opened and adjourned by a coroner at Ipswich Crown Court.

The inquest into the death of Ms Adams was opened last week.