Mother of 'Suffolk strangler' victim tells court: 'I had no idea my daughter was prostitute'

The mother of one of five prostitutes found murdered during a 10-day period had "no idea" that her daughter was a sex worker, a jury heard today.

Kerry Nicol told Ipswich Crown Court that she thought her daughter Tania had been working as a hairdresser or in a bar.

Ms Nicol was giving evidence at the trial of a forklift truck driver accused of killing the five women.

Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, denies murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

The court has heard that the naked bodies of the five women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, were found at remote locations near the town in December 2006.

The jury of nine men and three women was told that detectives launched an inquiry after Tania Nicol vanished on October 30, 2006.

Tania's mother told the court that her daughter had grown up in Ipswich and done well at a local school.

But at 16 Tania had left home, moved into a hostel and begun taking heroin. Ms Nicol said her daughter returned to the family home on the outskirts of Ipswich in late December 2005.

She said the teenager's appearance had changed - she had lost weight and her skin was "bad".

She said syringes had also been found in her daughter's bedroom - but Tania denied that she was continuing to take drugs. "She said she had a job and was managing all right," said Ms Nicol.

"She told me a few different things. She was a hairdresser at one point. Another time behind a bar in a pub."

Ms Nicol told jurors she had "no idea" that Tania was a prostitute.

The court heard that on one occasion Ms Nicol had answered a call from a massage parlour called Cleopatra's asking for a woman called "Chantelle".

Ms Nicol said she had also found a letter in Tania's bedroom addressed to "Chantelle".

And twice men she did not know had called the house.

Ms Nicol described the last contact she had with her daughter before she vanished.

She said she heard the front door slam as Tania left their Ipswich home to get a bus into the town centre.

She said Tania had been wearing "cut-off jeans" on the night she last saw her.

"I was in the kitchen and I heard her go out of the front door. I heard the door slam," she said.

She said she had called Tania on her mobile phone about 15 minutes later and confirmed she was on a bus into Ipswich.

Ms Nicol told the jury she had checked the telephone numbers dialled by Tania before she vanished when she realised her daughter had not returned home.

She told the court Tania had called a man by the name of Tom Stephens before her disappearance.