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Police urged to quiz serial killer about cold cases

Rachael McMenemy
News imageNorfolk Police A head and shoulders side-on image of Kellie Pratt, who appears to be sitting on a settee, turning and smiling at the camera. She has brown hair and is wearing a white top and a gold hoop earring. Norfolk Police
A criminologist says the disappearance of 28-year-old Kellie Pratt in 2000 is one of the cases police should look at again

Serial killer Steve Wright's admission he murdered Victoria Hall could be an opportunity to look again at other cold cases, according to a crime expert.

At the Old Bailey on Monday, Wright - jailed for murdering five women in Ipswich in 2006 - also admitted kidnapping and killing the 17-year-old in 1999.

Prof David Wilson, a criminologist, said police should now reinvestigate what he believed were links between Wright and other unsolved disappearances.

Wilson highlighted the cases of Kellie Pratt, 28, last seen in Norwich in 2000, and Amanda Duncan, 26, who went missing in Ipswich in 1993. Norfolk and Suffolk Police have been contacted for comment.

News imageSuffolk Police Steve Wright: the head and shoulders of a balding man with brown hair, looking directly ahead. He is wearing an open-necked white polo-style shirt. Behind him is a white window blind.Suffolk Police
In 2006, Steve Wright murdered Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls, before dumping their bodies on the outskirts of Ipswich

Wilson, based at Birmingham City University, told BBC Breakfast he believed Wright was likely to have committed more murders before 2006.

He said he "never knew of a serial killer that would begin a series of killings in their 40s". Wright was 48 in 2006, the year of the Ipswich murders.

News imageDavid Wilson looks into the camera. He has white stubble and a grey moustache. He is wearing a light brown jumper.
Prof David Wilson believes police should re-examine cold cases involving young women

He said: "Quite clearly that meant, for me, I should be looking for unsolved murders in places Wright lived when he was in his 30s and late 20s, which brought in a number of these cold cases.

"I'm also thinking of the opportunity police now have in relation to some cold cases, in particular Mandy Duncan in 1993 and Kellie Pratt in 2000.

"There's a real opportunity now to get Wright to talk about other crimes he's committed," he added.

News imageSuffolk Police Amanda Duncan smiling at the camera. She has brown curly hair and is wearing gold hoop earrings. Suffolk Police
Amanda Duncan was 26 when she went missing in Ipswich in 1993

Amanda Duncan went missing in July 1993 after travelling to Ipswich to be a sex worker.

Police believe she had arranged to buy drugs before starting work and later returned to an address in London Road, Ipswich, to finalise the purchase.

Kellie Pratt, also a sex worker, was last seen outside The Rose pub in Queens Road, Norwich on 11 June 2000. Her body has never been found.

She took a call 10 minutes after last being seen and said she was with a "punter" - a person who remains unknown. Her phone was never found.

Police previously said no link with Steve Wright had been established.

Wilson told the BBC: "We know the type of victim that Wright wanted to predate upon.

"They were young vulnerable women out late at night trying to get home, or young vulnerable women, vulnerable because they were addicted to Class A drugs."

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