A “PRETTY ordinary sort of bloke” accused of killing five prostitutes is suspicious but not guilty, a jury was told.

Prosecutors presented “a lot of evidence” about Steve Wright but had “not bridged the gap between suspicion and proof”, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

Barrister Timothy Langdale QC, who heads Wright’s legal team, said the evidence was inconsistent.

Wright, 49, denies murdering former Huddersfield woman Anneli Alderton, 24, Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Miss Alderton used to live at Primrose Hill and Huddersfield town centre.

The remains of the five women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, were found in isolated spots near the Suffolk town during a 10-day period in December, 2006, jurors have heard.

Mr Langdale said the evidence presented did not rule out the possibility that someone other than Wright was the killer.

He said prosecutors suggested on the one hand that Wright “cleaned his car obsessively” to remove all traces of his victims, yet on the other he was “crazy” enough to wear a reflective jacket while dumping bodies and so sloppy that he forgot to wipe blood off the coat.

“There is a lot of evidence giving rise to suspicion,” added Mr Langdale. “Maybe even a lot of suspicion; but failure to bridge the gap between suspicion and proof.”

Wright has suggested another person involved in the deaths, supermarket worker Tom Stephens.

Jurors have not heard evidence from Mr Stephens, who is in his late 30s and lives near Felixstowe, Suffolk.

But they have been told that he was arrested on suspicion of killing the women before being released without charge.

Jurors also heard evidence that Mr Stephens had slept with the women and had close links with Tania Nicol.

Mr Langdale said Mr Stephens was someone jurors had to think about. He said evidence showed that Mr Stephens was “a man with an unusual, one might say obsessive, interest in the case”.

He added: “This is not a trial of Tom Stephens. But he does remain, does he not, a candidate for being involved in the deaths of these five women, or, at least, some of them.”

The hearing continues.