Police today arrested a 37-year-old Suffolk supermarket worker on suspicion of murdering five young women whose bodies were found in the Ipswich area earlier this month.
Tom Stephens (right) was arrested at 7.20am at his home in the village of Trimley St Martin, near Felixstowe. He is being held on suspicion of murdering Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Tania Nicol, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls. He is due to be questioned by detectives from Suffolk Constabulary later today.
Police confirmed that Stephens's home in Trimley St Martin, near the A14 road between Ipswich and Felixstowe, had been visited earlier in the investigation and items had been removed for examination.
According to the suspect's blog on MySpace.com, now deleted, he works for Tesco and uses the nickname 'the Bishop'.
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Police have arrested a supermarket worker in connection with the deaths of the five Ipswich prostitutes |
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Det Chief Supt Stewart Gull said: "We will not be naming the police station where the man is being held. As legal proceedings are now active, Suffolk Police will not be issuing further comments or appeals."
The five dead women, aged between 19 and 29, were all prostitutes and drug users. Their naked bodies were found in rural settings south of Ipswich.
Trimley St Martin was in the news in 1999 when a 17-year-old girl vanished on her way home from a Felixstowe nightclub. The body of Vicky Hall was later found in a water-filled ditch. It was believed she had been asphyxiated but a post-mortem examination proved inconclusive. Police have not linked this case with the recent deaths.
In recent interviews with the BBC and Sunday Mirror, Stephens, speaking for background purposes, admitted knowing the five women. 
FIRST POSTED DECEMBER 18, 2006 |
