Women 'too high to resist attacker'

Dr Nat Cary said the women - whose naked bodies were found near Ipswich, Suffolk, between December 2 and December 12 2006 - were regular drug-users and may have been so intoxicated that they were unable to resist. He was giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court during 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. Jurors heard that the women all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich.

Dr Cary, a Home Office pathologist who examined the remains of the women, said they were all regular drug-users. He said the women had not died from drug overdoses but drugs may have played a part in their deaths. "These were individuals who may have not gone a single hour in the day without some drug onboard," he said.

"(But) these are not simply what we would call drug overdose cases in people who may be addicted to hard drugs - because of the circumstances of the disappearance and the dumping of the bodies and the fact that they were all naked. This is not in any shape or form an example of death due to drug overdose."

But Dr Cary said the women's drug use "may have played a part in causing death". He said their state of intoxication may have made it easier for an attacker to manhandle them, adding: "Someone may have been so intoxicated they simply would not resist."

Dr Cary told how he examined the women's remains. He said Miss Adams, the first victim to be found, may have been asphyxiated by someone putting an arm-lock around her neck. He said it was impossible to establish a definitive cause of death for Miss Nicol - the second prostitute to be found - but he could not rule out asphyxia.

Dr Cary said Miss Alderton - who had bruising on her neck and marks around her mouth - had been asphyxiated. He told jurors that he could not say how, but it was possible she could have been put in a choke-hold and quickly lost consciousness.

Dr Cary told the court that he had found significant levels of morphine - probably derived from heroin - in Miss Nicol's blood. And he said Miss Alderton - the third prostitute to be found dead - had been "significantly under the influence of cocaine".

Miss Nicholls and Miss Clennell were found on December 12. Dr Cary said he could not ascertain a cause of death for Miss Nicholls, but could not rule out asphyxia.