'Kind-hearted' victim 'got in with wrong crowd'

Murdered prostitute Anneli Alderton was today described as a “kind-hearted girl” who turned to drugs and prostitution after getting in with the “wrong crowd”.

A woman who works as an escort and gave her name as Emma said she had known Miss Alderton, 24, for about seven years and the pair had spent time together in prison for drugs-related offences.

She said: “She was a lovely girl, very kind-hearted and would do anything for anybody.

“Her friends introduced her to crack when she was about 13 and eventually she turned to prostitution.

“She was so young. Unfortunately she got involved with the wrong crowd.”

Emma said she also knew murdered prostitute Gemma Adams, 25, and the two women who are feared to be the so-called Ipswich Ripper’s latest victims, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

“Gemma was suc a nice girl who kept herself to herelf,” she said.

“She and her boyfriend used to go to work, buy her drugs and then go home. That was the extent of her days.

“Gemma and her boyfriend were so close, they were childhood sweethearts.

“I have also known Paula and Annette for some time. Everybody knows everybody here.”

Emma said that in the current climate of fear many escort girls in the area had stopped working as well as prostitutes.

“We are worried that if the girls stop going out on the streets the killer will look for other girls he can target,” she said.

“This is such a worrying time. I just hope they find out who is doing this. Within a week he’s wiped out half the red-light district.”