THE man accused of murdering five prostitutes told a court that he was the unlucky victim of dozens of coincidences.

Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, Suffolk, said he began picking up prostitutes on streets near his home less than two weeks before vice girls started vanishing.

Wright accepted he could have been with all the women on the nights they disappeared.

He said he had sex with four of the women, including former Huddersfield prostitute Anneli Alderton, and was intending to have sex with the fifth before changing his mind.

And he agreed that forensic evidence connected him to every victim’s body.

But he told Ipswich Crown Court he was not “any random psychopath” subjecting Ipswich prostitutes to “any campaign”.

He said he had nothing to do with the murders – and agreed he seemed to have been “singularly unfortunate”.

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

The naked bodies of the women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, were found in remote locations near the town between December 2 and December 12, 2006.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC suggested to Wright: “It would seem that in terms of picking up prostitutes in Ipswich you have been singularly unfortunate.”

Wright replied: “It would seem so, yes.”

Mr Wright then listed “coincidence” after “coincidence” relating to:

The similarity of the women – all petite with long hair;

The fact they disappeared shortly after Wright moved to a flat in Ipswich’s red light district

The fact that, by his own admission, Wright could have been with the women on the night they vanished;

The fact Wright’s DNA was found on three of the women’s bodies;

The fact fibres from his clothes, home or car were on all of their bodies;

The fact blood from two of the women was on one of his coats;

The fact Wright picked up prostitutes when his partner Pam Wright was working nights – and prostitutes appeared to vanish on nights Ms Wright was at work.

Time after time Mr Wright outlined a piece of evidence and asked: “Is that a coincidence?”

More than 50 times Wright replied either, “it would seem so, yes”, or “it would appear so, yes” or “if you say so, yes”.

Mr Wright said: “The fact is, there are a number of coincidences in this case, aren’t there Mr Wright? The fact is you murdered each of these women.”

Wright, who also admitted being familiar with the areas where four of the women’s bodies were dumped, replied: “No, I did not.”

Wright was captured on CCTV driving his Ford Mondeo out of Ipswich shortly after Miss Nicol and Miss Alderton vanished.

He told the court he suffered from insomnia and, after dropping off both women, had gone for a drive after struggling to sleep.

He denied he was on his way to dump the bodies of the two women when captured on the camera.

The trial adjourned for the day and continues on Tuesday, when Wright will continue giving evidence.