"Suffolk Strangler" used prostitutes for 25 years

By Andrew Hough

LONDON (Reuters) - Steve Wright had used prostitutes for almost a quarter of a century -- about half his life, his trial was told.

The 49-year-old told the jury he started paying for sex during his time in the merchant navy in the early 1980s, after he had worked on the QE2 cruiseliner as a steward.

Wright, convicted on Thursday of murdering five prostitutes, told the jury it was considered "normal" by young crew members, who regularly used them in foreign countries.

His liaisons with prostitutes continued for almost 25 years in massage parlours, when he worked in the pub trade around the country.

He would travel to Ipswich when he lived in nearby Felixstowe and used two parlours -- Oasis and Cleopatra's.

He began using street prostitutes in Ipswich when he and his partner, Pamela, 63, moved to the town's red light district. Street workers, he said, were cheaper.

He would have sex with them in his car and later began taking them home.

Neighbours would report hearing "a lot of thumping about" around midnight or 1 a.m.