Prostitutes 'paid to stay home'

2006-12-15 10:47

Ipswich - Police investigating the murder of five prostitutes in the quiet English town of Ipswich were expected to confirm the identity of the fifth victim on Friday as the hunt for what is believed to be a serial killer continued.

Police confirmed on Thursday that a body found in a woodland near the eastern English town was Paula Clennell, 24, and removed a second body from the area to conduct post-mortem examinations.

They are expected to identify her as Annette Nicholls, 29. She would be the fifth sex worker to have been killed in less than a two-week period.

The three other victims have already been identified as 25-year-old Gemma Adams, 19-year-old Tania Nicol and 24-year-old Anneli Alderton.

The case has evoked one of Britain's most notorious serial killers, east London's elusive Jack the Ripper, who murdered five prostitutes in 1888. It has also revived memories of "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe, who preyed on prostitutes, murdering 13 women between 1975 and 1980.

Investigators into the murders around the normally tranquil town, about 130km northeast of London, are ploughing through some 5 500 calls from the public and trying to trace the victims' last movements.

Local police said that more than 300 officers, from nine different police forces around Britain, were helping them in the inquiry.

They confirmed to British newspapers that they were investigating whether the victims had been drugged before being killed, reporting that none of the bodies showed signs of a struggle.

Given the possibility that they were incapacitated, police officers confirmed to The Times that toxicology tests were being conducted on the bodies.

The Guardian daily, meanwhile, reported that police and local drug workers were paying prostitutes in Ipswich to stay off the streets, with Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull quoted by the newspaper as saying: "It's not safe to engage a client or punter at this time."

He would not say how much they were being given, but said that because of "financial support" being offered, there was "no reason to go with clients".

The money was being provided by an unidentified charity, the newspaper said.

Following police confirmation that they were searching for a man driving a blue BMW - a local sex worker was quoted by several news outlets as saying she saw Alderton climb into the car last week.

It also emerged that Clennell had stolen £1 000 from a client of hers after they had a falling out, according to the Daily Mirror tabloid.

Clennell's boyfriend, Paul Turner, told the newspaper that he was also certain that other prostitutes robbed him after identifying him as "pretty vulnerable". He suggested that the man, whose name he did not know, might be the killer.

- AFP