Five prostitutes have been murdered in Ipswich this month so far, so in just over a week. Very scary.

The story on the BBC News website

Is this the fourth time that prostitutes have be targeted by a serial killer in the UK? This is got to make it really difficult for any woman to go out alone. Demented, scary stuff.

Very scary, especially from where I'm sitting. It's a fairly short timescale as well, only about a month for all five victims.

There has been quite a few prostitutes from the East Anglian area who have disappeared or been murdered in the last ten years or so - one wonders if there is a connection.

I must have been posting at the same time as jars.

There are areas in our nearest large town where I wouldn't go on my own, day or night. On the whole though I've always felt reasonably safe. This has changed things a bit. I've a few nights out booked in the next week or so and I'll be taking a lot of care. It's not happening in my immediate area but it's not that far away either.

I've tried to drum it into my daughter to stick with her friends when she's out during the evening. I've pointed out that the Yorkshire Ripper became less particular about his victims as time went on.

I stand corrected, I see that the first one went missing in early November, but still, that is more than one a week dead for the past month. Terrifying for young women in the area, prostitute or not.

I was reading about this today whilst visiting my mum (about the only time I have access to newspapers as I never buy them). What I find really disheartening is the overuse of all the alternative and usually derogative terms for prostitute the tabloids use. These women were prostitutes but they deserve the same respect as any other murder victim. No matter what these women did to earn a living, they were still human, they were somebody's daughter, sister, mum.
I do wonder how many of these women who are estranged from their families go missing and are never reported as such. The number of murdered prostitutes is probably much higher then we think.

Yes, they tend to be 'disposable humans' in some ways - which is why these guys target them. So many of these girls out on the streets are fighting their own inner demons - addictions, abuse at home - they are so vulnerable.

Apparently there have been quite a lot of murders in the area over the past thirteen years.

It's my understanding that one of the victims was actually interviewed by a local news crew not long before she herself was killed. She said that although she and the other girls were admittedly scared she continued to work the streets because she needed the money. How scary it must be for these working girls right now, just knowing that the next time they get into a car could be their last.

Very scary I would imagine. I don't know any statistics but I would imagine those that are in debt and suffer from addictions need the money and have no choice but to continue what they are doing. I do wonder if legalising prostition is the way to go, give these women somewhere safe to work, regular health checks etc has to be better then leaving them working the streets and giving them fines they have to carry on working to pay off.

Which I guess also brings us to another current thread, about perhaps giving heroin to addicts. This would do away with the financial need of the prostitutes who are doing it to feed the addiction.

I saw the television interview, they showed it again after the last two bodies were found and it was suspected that she was one of those bodies.

We already give addicts methadone, I see them queueing for it at my local chemists. They don't look like 'addicts', just every day people, who for whatever reason have got themselves addicted to heroin. I don't know of any addicts (though how can I be so sure?) but if I did, I would prefer for them to be able to buy it legally rather then have to obtain some lethal concoction from an unscrupulous dealer.
You can't stop people taking drugs nor stop people selling/paying for sex. Wouldn't it be better to make these practises safer?

RE; The serial killer, I just caught the end of the news, I'm sure I heard that another woman was missing.

I can see nothing on the BBC website about another missing, but they have confirmed the identity of the fifth woman, perhaps that is what you heard.

On the early evening news they did say that there was another woman missing - she's not been seen for 48 hours.

From BBC website

Suffolk Police received reports that another woman from Ipswich, who may have worked as a prostitute, was missing, but she was found safe.

This is disgusting, and hugely terrifing for women in that area I imagine. I can only hope that the person behind the killings is caught soon, and no more prostitutes are killed.

At yesterday's soccer match between Ipswich Town and Leeds United, there was minute's silence in tribute to these unfortunate women. the silence was preceded by prayers led by the Bishop of St. Edmondsbury, Bishop of the diocese in which these appalling murders occured

A man is in custody following an interview he gave to a Sunday tabloid.

BBC News

Sunday Mirror interview

I will print the interview here in case it is removed from their site...

17 December 2006
RIPPER HUNT: THE SUSPECT
EXCLUSIVE RIPPER HUNT: THE SUSPECT The girls were the 5 best looking prostitutes in Ipswich There is something about me women do not like
Interview By Michael Duffy

A PRIME SUSPECT in the Ipswich Ripper killings can today be revealed as supermarket worker Tom Stephens, who has been questioned FOUR TIMES by police.

The Sunday Mirror tracked down the 37-year-old loner and he chillingly confessed between sobs: "I am a friend of all the girls, ...but I don't have any alibis."

Sobbing uncontrollably, recently-divorced Stephens, 37, says he became the girls' "protector" and would have had "complete opportunity" to carry out the crime as "the girls trusted me so much".

Ipswich

SUSPECT: Tom Stephens

He also admits he could be arrested in connection with their murders as he fits the profile of the Ipswich Ripper but strenuously denies any involvement.

Well-spoken Stephens said he has been questioned under caution by cops hunting the killer and had his home and car searched by forensic teams.

Yesterday Suffolk police sources confirmed to the Sunday Mirror that Stephens was a suspect in the murders of Tania Nichol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Annette Nicholls, 29, Anneli Alderton, 24, and Paula Clennell, 24.

During an emotional interview with our reporter, he said: "I'm a friend of all the girls. I was closest to Tania. And Gemma as well. I was close to others as well. But I should have been there to watch over them." He also said: "I don't have alibis for some of the times - actually I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times. But I'm not worried about being charged - I'm innocent."

Stephens turned to the street-walking prostitutes of Ipswich 18 months ago after his eight-year marriage collapsed.

He grew close to all of the area's prostitutes but was especially devoted to Tania, who was the first to be murdered. He said he was the "nearest thing to a boyfriend" she had. He said he was also close to Gemma, who went missing at the same time as Tania.

And he said that the killer had picked off the five "prettiest" prostitutes in Ipswich.

He said: "Gemma and Tania, the ones I was closest to are the best looking girls who do this in Ipswich. In fact, they were probably the top five. Over time I have been involved with most of the girls. If you count, there are about 50 over the last year."

And he added: "From the police profiling it does look like me - white male between 25 and 40, knows the area, works strange hours. The bodies have got close to my house.

"If new information, coincidental information, crops up, I could get arrested."

But he said: "I know I am innocent and I am completely confident it won't go as far as me being charged."

Stephens said he was quizzed by cops once in a car and three times at Ipswich police stations. The first interview was just days after Tania was reported missing on October 30. The second interview was conducted under caution and recorded, he claims.

ripper

Forensic teams continue to search for clues

Stephens lives alone on a new estate near Felixstowe, two miles from where the bodies of Paula and Annette were found and has been suspended from his supermarket job. He poured out his heart in the passenger seat of Sunday Mirror reporter Michael Duffy's car in a pub car park near his home. Here is the transcript of the interview:

MICHAEL DUFFY: Your name has cropped up in the investigation because you know the girls.

TOM STEPHENS: I'm going to cry.

MD: That's OK mate. How did you know the girls?

TS: I'm friends of half the girls. Of the girls who went missing Tania was the one I was closest to. Gemma I was pretty close to, along with others. Some of them are still out there and I should be watching over them.

MD: Do you feel they need watching over?

TS: If Tania hadn't been the first I would be out there in the street watching over her now. I could have been there for the others. If I was out there tonight I could watch over a girl but I would tell her that I can't keep her safe.

MD: Police have shown an interest in you. Are you worried that you could end up in the frame for the murders?

TS: I could get arrested. That is quite likely, let's not say likely, let's say possible. If a car very like mine is seen in the area - up a lane somewhere - then I'd expect police would arrest me and question me very hard.

MD: They might question you, but why would they arrest you? They would only arrest you if they thought you were guilty.

TS: I would have complete opportunity, the girls would have trusted me so much. If I had blindfolded them and taken them to the edge of a cliff and said take two steps but take three and you'll go over - they would have taken the two steps. From the police profiling it does look like me - white male between 25 and 40, knows the area, works strange hours. The bodies have got close to my house. I know that I'm innocent. But I don't have alibis for some of the times - actually I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times.

MD: I came here to speak to you assuming you were someone who has been ruled out. If it was my job to catch the killer, I'd be taking a close look at you based on what you have said.

TS: Don't think I'm pointing out my guilt, because this is almost the worst example to give but in the case of the Yorkshire Ripper he was arrested released and later charged. But in his case he was obviously guilty, but at that point they thought he was innocent.

MD: Well you're fitting the pattern aren't you? I mean I came down here assuming you weren't guilty.

TS: I feel it. I feel it.

MD: Tell me about Tania.

TS: She was a lovely, sweet girl. It's so easy to believe her mother didn't know what she was doing because she didn't fit the image at all. She was tiny, you could pick her up with one hand. Because the drugs do make the girls skinny it didn't look out of place on her because she was so tiny. Some of the girls do look like walking skeletons. She had worked in a parlour. She was separate from the other girls on the street and I was trying to persuade her to go back into a parlour. But because she was sliding away she was getting less organised. She looked like a young girl going to a party. She still spent money on clothes, not simply drugs, and would give hand-medowns to the other girls. She would sometimes stay overnight with a client - it was better money. She would always tell her mother she was just staying at a friend's place. She was 19, a little bit crazy, but no crazier than half a million 19-year-old girls across the country.

MD: Did you love Tania?

TS: No. But Annette thought we were together. We weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, but I was the closest thing she had to a boyfriend and in behaviour she was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend. I didn't love her. But I should have been there for her.

MD: How did you first meet them?

TS: I don't want to say, so you can guess.

MD: I'm guessing you started out as a punter and grew close to the girls.

TS: If you're not at the centre of the dartboard, then you're darn close.

(Bursts into tears)

MD: You seem a smart, well-educated man. How is it that you can spend time with these people. How is it that you can find common ground with them?

TS: I'm sad and lonely. I made compromises on my morals to go down (to the red light area) the first time, so I suppose getting involved with them isn't a huge leap. If you want to have any relationship with a working girl you have to accept the drugs. They work to do drugs as much as they breathe to live.

MD: What does your family think about all of this?

TS: I am from a good household. I have only told my mother today. I've been a terrible son, she is very ill. I was supposed to be looking after her on Monday, but I don't know whether I'm up to it now.

MD: How did she take it? Was she upset?

TS: It was a bolt from the blue. More so because there is a big murder inquiry and I know some of the girls who have died is more...really... that hit her right between the eyes rather than the prostitution. I have been shielding myself behind the white lie of being a friend of Tania's mum.

MD: When were you first interviewed by police?

TS: She (Tania) went missing Monday night (October 30), Wednesday I spoke to her mum. Within a couple of days I spoke to a couple of officers in a car for an hour. They asked me and I went voluntarily to the police station. They wanted to put it on tape so that nothing would be lost. No information would be lost. In notes things can be lost.

MD: You seem an intelligent guy, you're a good-looking bloke. Why spend time with drug-addicted prostitutes? Why not find yourself a nice girl.

TS: On paper I should be attractive, but there is something about me women do not like.

MD: Do you have a theory about what happened?

TS: I did think it wasn't someone who was known to the girls at all...I have no idea. I've been listening to police reports. If I give you a theory it would be based on what they said, not anything I know. They keep talking about killer or killers, which may mean there is more than one person. It does occur to me that Gemma's body was found near where she used to take clients. Similarly Tania used to take clients close to where she was found.

Stephens went on for a further two hours, describing the hardship of streetwalking prostitutes and sobbing openly about the death of his friends.

MD: Is there anything you can do to help police?

TS: I've got to. It's not possible for me to do enough. If I got out of this car now and through my own initiative caught the man now, that wouldn't be enough. It wouldn't bring them back.

MD: It wasn't your job to protect them.

TS: What was it my job to do? It was.

MD: But who says?

TS: That was the relationship we had. I was hoping the police would release something to say they do not hold me in direct suspicion. I was reading on Ceefax that there were 50 suspects, I can't expect not to be on that list. I tried to be there for them and I will try to help police.

MD: Tell me how you were a friend of the girls?

TS: I'm a friend of all the girls. I was closest to Tania. And Gemma as well. I was close to others as well. But I should have been there to watch over them.

MD: Do you feel they need to be watched over?

TS: If I was out there tonight, if there was a girl working, I would try to watch over her. But I'd tell her: "I can't keep you safe." I'd try to give her some sort of support. Some of them have nobody else at all.

MD: And that makes you feel needed?

(Stephens breaks down)

TS: It's good that I'm crying. Tania went missing on October 30 and I haven't started crying yet.

MD: Take your time.

TS (still sobbing): I wasn't there for Tania, there were things I could have told her mother but didn't. I haven't spoken to Tania's mum since the disappearance.

MD: Have police searched your home?

TS: Yes they searched my house.

MD: When was that?

TS: It was on November 22. They took all of the morning until 1pm?

M What were they wearing?

TS: There were two groups of officers. The first wore white plastic suits. The second group - who wore plain clothes - couldn't come in until they had finished. They searched my car as well. Actually, they flattened my battery.

M: But no bodies had been discovered by then - only Gemma and Tania had been reported missing.

TS: I don't remember when the bodies were discovered.

MD: You're not from Ipswich?

TS: Born in Ipswich. Grew up in Norwich.

MD: You have an English accent, not the same as other people from Ipswich or Norwich.

TS: Well yes, some people say I am posh. I came from quite a good household.

MD: Police are taking an interest in you.

TS: They've spoken to me.

MD: Four times?

TS: Yes.

MD: Did they interview you under caution?

TS: Yes.

MD: Do you understand what under caution means?

TS. Yes. I suppose if they want to interview a person on tape they have to do it under caution.

MD: Who are the pimps?

TS: There are no pimps in Ipswich. I know nothing about massage parlours, but there are no pimps who run a number of girls (on the street). I suppose my actions - by the legal definition I'm nowhere near that. But by my behaviour, I'd be as close as there was to a pimp. I knew a lot of girls and I used to run them about. If there was such a thing as a pimp he'd take money for it.

MD: Did you take money for it?

TS: I used to occasionally take petrol money but I certainly wouldn't have filled up on what I was getting. Some of the girls have boyfriends who are dominant over them, forcing them to work and supporting their habit as well. That's about as close as there is to a pimp in Ipswich. There is so much lying that goes on with the girls you have to be very careful. I used to give worn-out tee-shirts to the girls. I've spoken to girls and they've said: "Why are they (police) questioning you? They shouldn't be doing that. You help us." I say they have to suspect anybody and everybody. They can't see me giving them lifts lending them money and say: "We'll leave him alone." So I have to convince the girls it is right the police question me. But I know I am innocent and I am certain it won't go as far as me being charged. I am completely confident of that. It's not unusual for someone to be arrested, released without charge and then someone else be arrested and charged.

Reporting Team: SUSIE BONIFACE, RORY SMITH
Copyright Sunday Mirror

How sad!

What slightly worries me is that he could be 'confessing' when it isn't him. If that were the case it could stop the police looking. It happened with the 'Yorkshire Ripper', someone pretended it was him and the police then focussed in another area and the murderer went on to commit further murders.
Hopefully this is the right man.

Well I might be correct in worrying that it might not be him, they have let him out on bail and have charged the second man questioned with all five murders.

BBC News

So then it's the SECOND suspect, not the first who's been arrested for these crimes? I had been following this story online and when the news of an arrest broke it was stated that the second man (referred to by name and age) had been charged but they (CNN) posted the photo of the first man (as seen on his MYSPACE page) under the byline. Talk about confusing... I don't know why anyone would confess to a crime they didn't commit, only makes the investigation more complicated.

Sue made a good point in regard to the 'Yorkshire Ripper' case, where the police were misled by a telphone caller, supposedly confessing and teasing them about not finding him. He was eventually traced and sentenced for wasting police time, but not before more murders were committed by the real 'Ripper', Peter Sutcliffe!
Fortunately, it appears the police learned from this very serious error, and didn't make the same terrible mistake this time, continuing their investigations, even after a suspect was arrested.
Of course, we must not believe this second person arrested and charged is either guilty or not, until he has faced trial.