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Comedian Ricky Gervais defended himself today after making a joke about the killing of prostitutes just weeks after five were murdered in Suffolk.
The award-winning comic recounted a story in Glasgow about a time he was asked for his advice on becoming famous.
"Go out and kill a prostitute," was his advice, he told the audience, before adding: "I won't do this bit in Ipswich."
Jim Duell, the father of 19-year-old Tania Nicol, who was one of the five victims of the Ipswich red-light killings, criticised the comedian's remarks.
"These days they want to make a joke out of everything," he said. "If this comedian is saying things like this he is trampling on a lot of emotions. I feel he's just being uncaring, quite honestly."
Gervais stressed that the conversation he referred to in the show happened five years ago, and he was talking about people who would do anything to become famous.
