BRITAIN:Suspect Tom Stephens told of friendships with murdered prostitutes, writes Frank Millar
The man being held on suspicion of the murders of five women in Ipswich protested his innocence in media and newspaper interviews which identified him as "a prime suspect" prior to his arrest yesterday.
Suffolk police signalled a potentially significant development in the hunt for the killer of five prostitutes when they confirmed the early-morning arrest of a 37-year-old man at his home in Trimley, near Felixstowe.
The officer leading the unprecedented manhunt, Det Chief Supt Stewart Gull, said the man had been arrested "on suspicion of murdering all five women, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls".
However, Mr Gull refused to name the man or disclose the police station in which he was being held for questioning, adding that as legal proceedings were now active the police would not be issuing further comments or public appeals at that point.
Media reports subsequently named the man arrested on suspicion of murdering the five women as Tom Stephens, a Tesco supermarket worker, who last week admitted using prostitutes and knowing the victims while insisting he had urged them to talk to the police if they knew anything about the killer.
Mr Stephens gave an interview to the BBC, which he had asked be used for "background" purposes and which was subsequently handed to detectives. During the interview Mr Stephens said he was "probably the closest thing" murder victim Tania Nicol had had to a boyfriend. "It wasn't a relationship like that," he said, "although Annette [ Nicholls] in fact thought we were an item."
According to the BBC, Mr Stephens said he had known Ms Nicol for about six months, and Ms Adams for 18 months - "about as long as I've known any of the girls".
Mr Stephens reportedly spoke to Ms Nicol's mother in the days following her disappearance. He claimed not to have known another victim, Anneli Alderton, and to have spoken to her only after Tania and Gemma went missing. "Just to say if you know anything, talk to the police, or if you do not talk to the police, talk to me and I'll talk to the police," he said: "And also trying to say 'are you OK?' I do not know what I was trying to say. Pretty much all the girls who I didn't know before I have tried to speak to in that way."
Mr Stephens also allegedly told the Sunday Mirror that he was a friend of "all of the girls" and wasn't sure he had "tight alibis for any of the times".
However, during what was described as "an emotional interview" with the newspaper, he reportedly said: "I'm a friend of all the girls. I was closest to Tania. And Gemma as well. But I should have been there to watch over them . . . I do not have alibis for some of the times - actually I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times. But I'm not worried about being charged - I'm innocent."
Mr Stephens was said to have "turned to the street-walking prostitutes of Ipswich" 18 months ago after the collapse of his eight-year marriage.
Disclosing that he had previously been questioned under caution by police hunting the killer, he also admitted "he could be arrested in connection with their murders as he fits the profile of the Ipswich Ripper but strenuously denies any involvement".
Asked why he feared he might be arrested, Mr Stephens replied: "I would have complete opportunity, the girls would have trusted me so much." Pressing that he might appear to be "fitting the pattern" of a likely suspect, the reporter told him he'd come to conduct the interview assuming Stephens wasn't guilty, to which he replied: "I feel it. I feel it."
Mr Stephens - who was reported yesterday to give the nickname 'The Bishop' on an internet blog site in which he appears "in a variety of bizarre poses" - told the Sunday Mirror he was "sad and lonely". When it was put to him that he appeared "an intelligent guy . . . a good-looking bloke" and asked why he spent his time "with drug addicted prostitutes", he replied: "On paper I should be attractive, but there is something about me women do not like."
Asked if there was anything he could do to help police, he replied: "I've got to. It's not possible for me to do enough."
Neighbours told the Press Association that Stephens was "a bit of a weirdo", who had been seen "acting strangely in recent months" and "who thought he was a cut above everybody else".