Court hears of DNA link in Ipswich murder trial (Roundup)

(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. A hand out photo made available 15 January 2008 by Suffolk Police in east central England, of Steve Wright who is currently standing trial at Ipswich Crown Court for the murder of five prostitutes in 2006. Wright, aged 49, denies murdering the five women and the trial is expected to last at least six weeks. The murders took place during a 10 day period in December 2006. EPA/HO

A hand out photo made available 15 January 2008 by Suffolk Police in east central England, of Steve Wright who is currently standing trial at Ipswich Crown Court for the murder of five prostitutes in 2006. Wright, aged 49, denies murdering the five women and the trial is expected to last at least six weeks. The murders took place during a 10 day period in December 2006. EPA/HO 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.