PRIME Minister David Cameron has described the murders of three prostitutes as a “terrible shock”.

Speaking after Stephen Griffiths appeared in court charged with murdering the three women, Mr Cameron said problems of kerb-crawling and drug abuse needed to be dealt with.

He said the issue of decriminalising prostitution should be “looked at again”.

The Prime Minister said: “To lose a family member is hard enough, but to lose one in these awful circumstances with so many awful memories of what happened in the past is truly terrible.

“I just hope that the police do everything they can to make sure this case goes to court as fast as possible so people feel they can start to rebuild their lives all over again but I recognise what a terrible shock it is for everyone.”

Mr Cameron, on a visit to Bradford, added: “I think we have to deal with the causes of this problem. The causes are drug abuse – a massive problem – we’ve got to get to grips with drug abuse.

“I think we’ve also got to do more to get people who are involved in prostitution to have a job to help rebuild their lives.

“Also, I think we’ve got to be much tougher on kerb-crawling. It is illegal – that aspect of it we really should clamp down on.”

Asked if prostitution should be decriminalised, Mr Cameron replied: “I dare say it should be looked at again. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions on this – there are all sorts of problems that decriminalisation would bring.

“The first step is learn the lessons of what has worked elsewhere, tough on kerb-crawling, deal with problems of drug abuse, help prostitutes out of this industry, make sure all agencies work together.

“That would be a good start.”