Victim's mother took man's calls

In one, the man - who gave his name as Tom Stephens - asked a "strange question" about whether the girls would still go out and do what they do if one was murdered, Ipswich Crown Court was told. And he said police had "taken" his mobile phones, jurors heard. A few weeks later the same man was heard talking to a prostitute about self-defence techniques, the court was told.

Kerry Nicol, mother of 19-year-old Tania Nicol, was giving evidence at the trial of a forklift truck driver accused of killing the five prostitutes. Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, denies murdering Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, 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 between December 2 and December 12 2006. Jurors heard that Tania - whom her mother had "no idea" was a prostitute - vanished on October 31.

Ms Nicol, of Ipswich, said she took three calls from Mr Stephens - the first at 8pm on October 31.

She told the court she had initially dialled a list of numbers Tania had called before her disappearance in a bid to trace her daughter. One of the numbers was that of Mr Stephens, she said.

Later, in another conversation, she said Mr Stephens, who was a stranger to her, had asked for Tania when he called. She said she thought the teenager was asleep. Mr Stephens' reaction was to "pause as if he was confused", she said.

The next day Mr Stephens called again, in which he supported her in reporting her daughter missing to police. "I said I was thinking of calling the police," Ms Nicol, who gave evidence behind screens which shielded her from Wright and the public gallery, told the court. "And he said, 'I would if I was you'."

On December 8, the day Tania's body was found, a member of staff at a charity that works with Ipswich prostitutes, saw a man she recognised as Mr Stephens in the town's red-light district talking to a prostitute.

"He talked about some kind of techniques to protect yourself when you are attacked," said former policewoman Alison Fenning, who worked for the Bridge Project. The trial continues.