Student in court over sex workers’ killings

A STUDENT accused of murdering three prostitutes appeared in court yesterday.

Stephen Griffiths appeared at Sheffield Crown Court via videolink from Wakefield Prison.

He is charged with murdering Bradford sex workers Suzanne Blamires, Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth.

Griffiths, 40, referred to himself as the “Crossbow Cannibal” when he appeared before magistrates last month.

Yesterday, he sat behind a table for the 26-minute hearing sporting a beard and wearing a grey prison jumper.

He appeared on the screen in front of a blue wall and spent most of the time staring down with his arms folded or his head in his hands.

The judge, Mr Justice Openshaw, decided the provisional trial date of November 16, set at the last hearing, was to be vacated. He said a new date would have to be fixed at a later hearing.

The criminology student is charged with murdering Blamires, 36, between May 20 and May 25; murdering Rushworth, 43, between June 22, 2009 and May 25 this year; and murdering Armitage, 31, between April 25 and May 25 this year.

Blamires was last seen on May 21, Armitage has been missing since April 26, and s Rushworth disappeared on June 22 last year.

When he was asked for his name during his first appearance at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on May 28, Griffiths replied: “The Crossbow Cannibal.”

Asked for his address, he answered: “Erm... here, I guess.”