'Net tightening' around prostitute murder suspects

Police hunting the killer of five prostitutes said tonight they were tightening the net around a series of suspects.

They refused to reveal how many individuals were in their sights for the Suffolk murders but sources suggested that the number was less than 50 – not all of them men who used prostitutes.

Police said a “number of interesting lines of inquiry were being followed”.

As the parents of one of the murdered women appealed for information to catch the killer, detectives said they were making “good progress” in the hunt .

“There are a number of people of interest to us,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull.

“We are making good progress and are pursuing a number of interesting lines of inquiry.”

Mr Gull added: “We have got a range of individuals who have been suggested to us. Some are local and some are not. Some are not punters.

“We are determined to find the person or persons responsible.”

Tania Nicol’s parents Jim Duell and Kerry Nicol said the killer “needs to be found”.

Mr Duell said they had lost their daughter to a “secret world” and added: “Tania was a lovely daughter – she was a caring, loving, sensitive girl who would never hurt anyone.

“Unfortunately, drugs took her away into her own secret world – a world that neither of us were aware of.

“Tania has been taken by someone who needs to be found.”

Earlier, detectives confirmed that the fifth woman found dead near Ipswich in the past two weeks was missing prostitute Annette Nicholls, 29.

Despite a post-mortem examination the cause of her death was not clear and further tests are being carried out.

Four other women have been found dead in villages near Ipswich in the past fortnight.

Gemma Adams, 25, was found in Belstead Brook at Hintlesham on December 2. Miss Nicol was found in the same stream at Copdock on December 8.

They were naked and their bodies had partly deteriorated in the fresh water. Detectives have not revealed the cause of their deaths.

Anneli Alderton, 24, was found in woods at Nacton on December 10. She, too, was naked and had been strangled.

Paula Clennell, 24, and Miss Nicholls were found naked in woods at Levington on Tuesday.

More than 300 officers – from more than 20 forces – are hunting one of the biggest serial killers in British criminal history.

Mr Gull said detectives were trawling through more than 7,000 calls received after public appeals for information.