The mother of the first and youngest of five women to be murdered around Ipswich in 2006 told a court today she did not know her daughter was a prostitute.
Tania Nicol (19) disappeared on October 30th, 2006, and her body was finally found in a stream on December 8th.
Steve Wright
Steve Wright (49) is accused of killing Ms Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls. Their naked bodies were found around the town in the space of just 10 days.
Giving evidence from behind a screen at Ipswich Crown Court, Kerry Nicol said she had last seen her daughter at home until about 10.45 pm on the day she vanished when she went to catch a bus to meet some friends.
Ms Nicol told the court she spoke to her again at 10.57pm to check she had got the bus. She never heard from her again and did not realise her daughter was missing until the following evening.
"I presumed she was staying at a friend's and had not got round to telling me," she said.
Ms Nicol said she was unaware that Tania was working as a prostitute as she had told her she had a job and was doing "alright". However she said on one occasion someone had phoned the house from a massage parlour asking for "Chantelle". She also found a letter in her daughter's bedroom addressed to a Chantelle.
Earlier, she told the court her daughter had been brought up in Ipswich but had left home to move into a hostel at the age of 16 when she began using heroin.
Tania had asked for help in getting off drugs and had moved into a flat in the town in 2004 before returning to live at home the following year, the court was told.
