Court hears of DNA link in Ipswich murder trial

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Jan 18, 2008, 8:50 GMT

Two police car escort a van bringing Steve Wright to Ipswich Crown Court,eastern England 14 January 2008 for the start of his trial. He is accused of the murder of five prostitutes in the area. Wright, aged 49, denies murdering the fivewomen and the trial is expected to last at least six weeks. The murders took place during a 10 day period in December 2006. EPA/STR

(M&C) - Blood samples from two of five prostitutes killed over a six-week period in 2006 has been found on a jacket worn by the accused, an Ipswich court heard yesterday.

Steve Wright, 49, stands accused of the murder of the five local sex workers; Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton, 24, Annette Nicholls, 29, and Paula Clennell, 24. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecutor Peter Wright told the court the chance of the DNA occurring by chance was "one in a billion".

"These findings point not to an unfortunate coincidence, but rather to the defendant as being engaged in an active campaign of murder," he said.

"As to what drives a man to embark upon a campaign such as this we may never know but we submit that one thing you can be certain of from the evidence in this case is that in late October 2006 something caused Steve Gerald James Wright to engage in such a campaign and that he is guilty of the murder of each of these women," he added.

However counsel for the defence, Timothy Langdale, QC, said the presence of the DNA proved only that Mr Wright was a regular user of the local prostitutes. He said his client had already admitted to having sex with four of the five victims.