Wright guilty of prostitute murders

Wright, 49, was convicted after a six-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Wright, from Ipswich, who once worked as a steward on the QE2, had denied killing Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

He will be given five mandatory life sentences. But the trial judge Mr Justice Gross must decide if and when he could apply for parole.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC told the judge that Wright's "campaign of murder" justified a "whole life term".

But defence barrister Timothy Langdale QC said Wright should serve no more than 30 years before release was considered.

Prosecution lawyers said they had no evidence linking Wright to any other crimes - and no evidence that anyone else was involved in the Ipswich killings.

But detectives investigating the disappearance of an estate agent 22 years ago refused to rule out Steve Wright as a suspect.

Suzy Lamplugh, 25, disappeared in 1986 after leaving her offices in Fulham, west London. Her body has never been found but she was officially declared dead in 1994. A man was arrested 1989 but never charged.

Wright and Miss Lamplugh worked on the QE2 in the 1980s. Wright was a steward and Miss Lamplugh a beautician. And the Metropolitan Police said the Lamplugh inquiry was on-going.