Murdered prostitute’s boyfriend tells of grief

The boyfriend of murdered Ipswich woman Anneli Alderton has described his grief at losing his partner and the couple’s unborn baby.

Sam Jefford said the “two most precious things” in his life had been taken away when his girlfriend’s body was found more than a week ago in woods.

Miss Alderton is one of five Ipswich women whose murdered naked bodies have been discovered in Suffolk since the beginning of December.

Mr Jefford, 21, told The Sun newspaper: “She’s gone forever and she’s never coming back. Neither is our baby.”

Talking about his anger for her killer he added: “That b****** has taken away the two most precious things in my life. If we were in the same room and I had a gun. I’d shoot him. It’s all he deserves.”

The pair met at a drugs rehabilitation unit in Colchester where they were receiving treatment for addiction to class A drugs, The Sun stated.

Their friendship later became a relationship but Mr Jefford did not realise she was a prostitute.

He added that his girlfriend was training to become a hairdresser and even wrote to the Prince’s Trust for a loan.

Their dreams of a life together ended when her naked body was found in woods at Nacton, Suffolk, on December 10 – a week after she made a train from Manningtree, Essex, to Ipswich. Police said she had been strangled.

But detectives think her body was in the woods on December 7, they believe a passing motorist mistook the dead woman for a mannequin.

Police first launched a murder inquiry when Gemma Adams, 25, was found in Belstead Brook at Hintlesham on December 2. Tania Nicol was found in the same stream at Copdock on December 8.

Paula Clennell, 24, was discovered in woods at Levington on December 12. Police say she died as a result of “compression” to the neck. Annette Nicholls was also found the same day in woods at Levington.

Police have not said how Miss Adams, Miss Nicol and Miss Nicholls died. Toxicology tests are being carried out.

Yesterday officers stopped hundreds of motorists in the red light area of Ipswich.

Officers were also on the streets where Miss Clennell was last seen two weeks earlier and spoke to 400 motorists and pedestrians.

Detectives released CCTV footage on Saturday showing Miss Alderton on the 5.53pm Harwich to Colchester train on December 3.

Police said yesterday they had received a stream of calls as a result of the images appearing in the media.

And they thought Miss Alderton had got off the train at Manningtree at 6.15pm and caught the 6.43pm to Ipswich.

Officers have been checking rail station CCTV and speaking to travellers in the hope of piecing together her final movements.

“We are now confident we can begin piecing together the jigsaw of Anneli’s last movements,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is heading the inquiry.

“However we still need to know where she was after the evening of December 3.”

Meanwhile, the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) called for the decriminalisation of prostitution to increase women’s safety.

They designated yesterday as the fourth annual International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, president Ana Lopes said the Ipswich murders had highlighted the dangers of the trade.

She said: “The confirmed murders of five prostitutes in the Ipswich area highlight the desperate need for decriminalisation of sex work.

“These murders highlight how urgent the need is to reassess the law and society’s view of sex workers to ensure they enjoy the same rights as the rest of their communities.”