IPSWICH - A forklift truck driver was due to go on trial overnight, accused of murdering five women, all aged under 30 and who worked as prostitutes, during a killing spree carried out at a pace never seen before in Britain.
The 2006 murders led to one ofthe country's biggest-ever manhunts, drew comparisons with infamous 19th century serial killer "Jack the Ripper", and threw a spotlight on Britain's murky underworld of drugs and illicit sex.
Steve Wright, 49, is accused of killing Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls, whose naked bodies were found dumped at rural locations.
The five women, who all worked as prostitutes, were found at remote locations near Ipswich during a 10-day period in December 2006.
Detectives began investigations after Nicol vanished on October 30.
Just over two weeks later, Adams was reported missing after going to work in Ipswich's red light district. Her body was discovered in a stream on December 2.
Six days later, Nicol's body was found in water in a nearby village.
The body of Alderton, who had not been reported missing, was found in woodland on December 10. On December 12, the bodies of Clennell and Nicholls were found in woodland. Wright was charged on December 21.
Last month, Women's Minister Harriet Harman said she backed an outright ban on prostitution, similar to the system employed by Sweden.
Paying for sex in Britain is not a crime, but soliciting for sex or running brothels is.
However, women's groups said such a ban would not solve the issue and would put prostitutes at even greater risk.
"Men are not going to stop buying sex - it's just going to make it much more difficult and it's just going to drive it underground," Cari Mitchell from the English Collective of Prostitutes said.
