Victim's mother had 'no idea' daughter was prostitute

The mother of one of five prostitutes found murdered during a 10-day period had “no idea” that her daughter was a sex worker, a jury heard today.

Kerry Nicol told Ipswich Crown Court that she thought her daughter Tania had been working as a hairdresser or in a bar.

Ms Nicol was giving evidence at the trial of a forklift truck driver accused of killing the five women.

Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

The court has heard that the naked bodies of the five women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, were found at remote locations near the town in December 2006.

The jury of nine men and three women was told that detectives launched an inquiry after Tania Nicol vanished on October 30, 2006.

Tania’s mother told the court that her daughter had grown up in Ipswich and done well at a local school, but at 16 Tania had left home, moved into a hostel and begun taking heroin.

Ms Nicol said her daughter returned to the family home on the outskirts of Ipswich in late December 2005.

She said the teenager’s appearance had changed – she had lost weight and her skin was “bad”.

She said syringes had also been found in her daughter’s bedroom – but Tania denied that she was continuing to take drugs. “She said she had a job and was managing all right,” said Ms Nicol.

“She told me a few different things. She was a hairdresser at one point. Another time behind a bar in a pub.”

Ms Nicol told jurors she had “no idea” that Tania was a prostitute.

The court heard that on one occasion Ms Nicol had answered a call from a massage parlour called Cleopatra’s asking for a woman called “Chantelle”.

Ms Nicol said she had also found a letter in Tania’s bedroom addressed to “Chantelle”.

And twice men she did not know had called the house.