Serial killer drops appeal bid

The 50-year-old, of Ipswich, Suffolk, was convicted in February last year of murdering five prostitutes.

His case had been listed for an appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on February 24 but his family said this will not go ahead.

"We've withdrawn the appeal," said Wright's brother, David, 52. "We've spoken to our barrister and the general consensus is we're not yet in a position where we can submit our grounds for an appeal.

"If we go to court on the 24th we're not going to get a retrial because we're not prepared."

David said his brother was "devastated" at the development but insisted his family would continue to fight the case. "We've now got to sit down and go through the defence papers, read them all and get expert witness statements," said David, who lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

"After that we will submit them to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), who will decide whether they think there are good grounds for an appeal. It will probably take us six months to a year to go through all the paperwork. Steve was absolutely devastated because he thought he was going to court in three weeks. It's probably the worst he's been since the arrest."

Despite the withdrawal of the appeal, David said he remained certain the conviction would ultimately be overturned.

Wright murdered Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, between October and December 2006. Their bodies were found at isolated spots around Ipswich over a 10-day period in December 2006.

Wright, who was found guilty following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court, was sentenced to a whole-life jail term. His application for permission to appeal was based on his claims that he did not receive a fair trial, he was poorly represented and that there was no evidence linking him to the murders.