WOMAN 2. I tell you if I get hold of ’im. Ho heh heh. I really… I’ve never seen anything like it. Well I only came into town an’ I. As I came down on the roundabout where the black building is I thought – I said to my brother I said ‘What’s goin’ on?’ I said ‘What’s happened?’ He said ‘Cos the bloke’ – He said ‘He’s in Court this morning isn’t he?’ An’ then when I came up here I thought ‘Oh my word. Am I gonna get parked?’ Ha ha. Cos they’ve taken all the spaces along here.
*
WOMAN 2 (simultaneous). Hallo.
MAN (simultaneous). Hallo ARV.
WOMAN 2. Hallo. Hallo. They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re obviously – he’s obviously / comin’ out cos they’re closing in. They’re closing in look. That’s why all the police – I could see them stopping traffic an’ that up there an’ all.
CHRIS EAKIN. I’m jus’ hearing some sirens actually erm – and as he’s going to come from this direction (Beat.) err, we’ll jus’ turn our camera round that way just so we do, we do actually see this convoy – when it hap. I think the sirens that I can hear are over there. (To CAMERAMAN.) Turn round this way.
MAN. Here he comes. ’Ere he comes.
WOMAN 1. Oh dear.
WOMAN 2. Yeah. Look at this. Look at this!
WOMAN 1. It’s ’orrible innit eh? It’s a wicked bloody world.
WOMAN 2. I said to my husband ‘I won’t be long dear. I’m just gonna go an’ do a couple of bits in town.’ I said ‘Alright.’ An’ then when I see this lot I phoned him up I said ‘I won’t be home yet’ I said / ha ha ha. He said ‘Yer nosey. I said ‘No’ I said ‘Cos if I can get to ’im I will. (Pause.) I din knacker ’im.’ (Pause.) But I don’t, I don’t even know where they’re gonna take ’im. They won’t put ’im in Norwich cos he will get murdered in there.
WOMAN 1. / Yeah I know I’ve got to get shoppin’ an’ stuff.
MAN. They won’t put ’im in Norwich will they, because… zimmy.
WOMAN 2. Well the thing is they oughta let ’im loose. / Let ’im get –
WOMAN 1. / Let the peep loose on ’im.
WOMAN 2. Exactly. Let ’em loose.
MAN. Put ’im in a hou – room full of women then see what they do to ’im.
WOMAN 1. That’s alright if this dies down but I mean your daught – you still gotta tell yer daughters to be weary all the time. An’ it’s an awful world to live in, like not trusting people innit?
WOMAN 2. But you look right an’ you think well, ya know ‘Have they got the right…?’ Let’s hope that that – this is the right one.
WOMAN 1. Oh I hope so.
WOMAN 2. Let’s just hope. I mean there’s not a definite thing yet.
WOMAN 1. I mean what evidence they’ve got we don’t know.
*
WOMAN 2 (simultaneous). Hallo.
MAN (simultaneous). Hallo ARV.
WOMAN 2. Hallo. Hallo. They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re obviously – he’s obviously / comin’ out cos they’re closing in. They’re closing in look. That’s why all the police – I could see them stopping traffic an’ that up there an’ all.
CHRIS EAKIN. Police motorbikes coming up the road – not from the direction we were expecting so I imagine this is not the convoy. (Beat.) Oh it might be actually. (Beat.) I think it is – these are the sirens from the right.
MAN. Here he comes. ’Ere he
comes.
WOMAN 1. Oh dear.
WOMAN 2. Yeah. Look at this. Look at this!
WOMAN 1. It’s ’orrible innit eh? It’s a wicked bloody world.
Beat.
WOMAN 2 (simultaneous). Hallo.
MAN (simultaneous). Hallo ARV.
WOMAN 2. Hallo. Hallo. They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re closing in. (Pause.) They’re obviously – he’s obviously / comin’ out cos they’re closing in. They’re closing in look. That’s why all the police – I could see them stopping traffic an’ that up there an’ all.
MAN. / Here he comes. ’Ere he comes.
WOMAN 1. Oh dear.
WOMAN 2. Yeah. Look at this. Look at this!
WOMAN 1. It’s ’orrible innit eh? It’s a wicked bloody world. (Beat.) ’Ere they come.
Loud sirens. The police van leaves the Court accompanied by a heavy police escort. The CROWD hurls abuse at the van… ‘Get ’im outta here!’, ‘Scum!’, etc.
CHRIS EAKIN. It looks like we got Steven Wright now. (Beat.) An’ here we have full convoy now. Steven Wright, forty-eight-year-old forklift-truck driver.
Crescendo builds of repeated final lines of chorus.
End of Act One.
ACT TWO
Section One
Outside Ipswich Crown Court.
PRODUCER 1. Oh there you are. Are you actually going on?
FEMALE REPORTER. Well –
PRODUCER 1. I thought Claire said you weren’t –
FEMALE REPORTER. Oh –
PRODUCER 1. But that was when she was in there she said oh and tell her to do a rant.
FEMALE REPORTER. Oh right okay –
PRODUCER 1. They’re all starting to come out now.
Song – ‘The Five Counts of Murder’
MALE REPORTER 1. In October and December of last year.
FEMALE REPORTER (and two other reporters). Well this is the third time that Steve Wright has ap –
peared in Court but it’s the first time that he’s
formally entered a plea he arrived here at
Ipswich Crown Court, shortly after
nine o’clock, this morning but it wasn’t until
two o’clock this afternoon, that he
stood up, dressed in a
black suit, white shirt and
blue tie, and spoke,
clearly and confidently when he was
asked how he would plead to each of the
five counts of murder they were read out,
in this order. Er –
Well this is the third time that Steve Wright has ap –
peared in Court but it’s the first time that he’s
formally entered a plea he arrived here at
Ipswich Crown Court, shortly after
nine o’clock, this morning but it wasn’t until
two o’clock this afternoon, that he
stood up, dressed in a
black suit, white shirt and
blue tie, and spoke,
clearly and confidently when he was
asked how he would plead to each of the
five counts of murder they were read out,
in this order.
Tania Nichol,
Her body was the
second to be found although she was the
first woman to go missing.
Gemma Adams
Her body of course was the
first to be found that was
fa-found on the third of December.
Anneli Alderton
Whose body was found in Nacton
Paula Clennell, Annette Nicholls.
Their bodies were of course found in Levington just a few
hundred yards from each other we know that
all, women, were working
in the town, as prostitutes and all their
bodies were found naked. To
each one of those counts of murder
Steve Wright, er pleaded, not,
Guilty.
Timothy Langdale QC and Peter Wright QC who is the prosecuting er barrister here have been in discussions with the Judge about where and when, this trial should be held. In the end it was decided that if possible, it should stay here at Ipswich Crown Court and it will begin, on the fourteenth of January two thousand and eight.
PRODUCER 1. Seems okay?
FEMALE REPORTER. Yeah. Iss fine.
Westgate Social Club off London Road, Neighbourhood Watch Christmas Party.
JULIE. Pink one number seven.
ALL. Yeahhh.
JULIE. Next one – orange forty-seven.
RON. Yes.
ROSEMARY. Oohh. Yeah. Ha ha.
Beat.
TIM. Gotta be in it to win-it.
ROSEMARY. Ha – Yeah – ha. True.
RON. We’re (Beat.) happy the trial’s started but erm – we’re a bit (Beat.) worried about what sort of the reaction the media’s / going to have.
HELEN. / We’re worried about the media, yeah.
RON. Whether we’re gonna get them all camped out on the doorsteps again.
JAN. Yeah. I jus’ wish it had been in London. Jus’ – ya know. It’s bringin’ it all back.
JULIE. Blue number forty-two.
Beat.
JAN. Oooh that’s me.
JULIE. We’re betta now, betta now – this time – this time last year – it was – complete nightmare. But it’s (Beat.) but it’s creepy ya know it’s – I hope we find out where – where he killed them an’ I jus’ – I jus’ pray an’ hope that those girls weren’t killed in the flat. I really hope they weren’t.
JULIE (simultaneous). Pink one eight nine.
JAN (simultaneous). We were really, we’re really upset.
ALL (except for JULIE and JAN). Ohhhhhh- / hhhh.
JAN. / One eight nine?
I just wanted him – it to be all over
and to know were tho – were those prostitutes
killed in that house.
VARIOUS. He was only there for ten weeks.
Ten weeks.
Just a chance.
The one place in the – in the whole world
where he (Beat.) went to live ten weeks.
Could have bin anywhere!
Could have been next door to you!
Everybody would rather it all went away. (Beat.)
They must have sleepless nights.
I know I do.
JAN. It was awful. I was very upset. In the evening ya know I jus’ – it was winter like now, so I jus’ closed the curtains and uhm… It really made me very depressed and very low. I just feel it’s like, / it’s like a dream still. I – I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve really come to / (Beat.) to accept it. (Beat.) I (Pause) try to (Beat.) jusss… (Beat.) keep going.
TIM. / I think there’s a –
TIM. / I think…
JULIE. Right we got a blue one, two hundred and one.
Beat.
HELEN. Oh yes!
ALL. Wha-heyyyy!
ROSEMARY. You do get the odd uhm sightseer coming up. They come up in cars an’ they stop an’ take a photograph / which is (Beat.) really sick.
RON. / Yeah.
TIM. You – / you can actually see them.
JAN. / Nobody walks – nobody walks down that road – with – with (an’ I’m the same) without staring at that house
TIM. Even now. People still do it.
JAN. During the day I had quite a bit of trouble with children here, erm jusss (Beat.) coming an’ really looking. Sss – one of them threatened me… talking about erm, ‘He’s a murderer’ an’ everything, ‘You should move an.’
JULIE. / Pink one eight nine.
JAN. / We were really, we’re really upset.
ALL (except for JULIE and JAN). Ohhhhhh- / hhhh.
JAN. / One eight nine?
I just wanted him – it to be all over
and to know were tho – were those prostitutes
killed in that house.
VARIOUS. He was only there for ten weeks.
Ten weeks.
Just a chance.
The one place in the – in the whole world
where he (Beat.) went to live ten weeks.
Could have bin anywhere!
Could have been next door to you!
Everybody would rather it all went away. (Beat.)
They must have sleepless nights.
I know I do.
TERRY. Oh it has actually – scared er (Beat.) er – er, a lotta the – ye’ow, neighbourhood (Beat.) ye’ow, permanently – is – uh – it’s a blot on the landscape, sortathing.
JUNE. I mean Mary won’t even come down now will / she walk? (Beat.) My daughter. Sh’ said ‘I’m not walking up there.’
TERRY. / Nerr.
HELEN. When they boarded the house up, that’s when I really didn’t like it. We’re actually – we’re thinking about moving weren’t we? I jus’ –
GORDON. Well you were.
HELEN. – Well I was because it-it. It just sort of dep-depressed me. It depressed me living next door – ya know an’ I just sort of thought ‘Ohh I wanna be in a nice area.’
ALFIE. I was thinking about moving once. I was yeah.
JAN. I’m moving fourteenth of March.
JULIE. / Pink one eight nine.
JAN. / We were really, we’re really upset.
ALL (except for JULIE and JAN). Ohhhhhh- / hhhh.
JAN. / One eight nine?
I just wanted him – it to be all over
and to know were tho – were those prostitutes
killed in that house.
ALL. He was only there for ten weeks.
Ten weeks.
Just a chance.
The one place in the – in the whole world
where he (Beat.) went to live ten weeks.
Could have bin anywhere!
Could have been next door to you!
Everybody would rather it all went away. (Beat.)
They must have sleepless nights.
I know I do.
Section Two
London Road sitting rooms.
Bailey the dog is yapping.
JULIE. Oi! Eamon, will you come an’ control this dog. How many times can they fil – film number 79. They’re here every day. Waitin’ to film (Beat.) ya know – film for the news. This sint fair on all the residents – it really isn’t. There’s no one here – there’s blacked-out windows ’n’ doors. You can’t – we’ve got – we’ve got uhm (Beat.) Jan an’ Tim that live opposite erm who’s on our committee of the Neighbourhood Watch. An’ I think they’re getting very upset about it all.
TIM. You said they just used the same van, all the time, didn’t they.
Beat.
JAN. Pardon?
TIM. They – used the same – tellyvision van (Beat.) the / crews –
JAN. / No.
TIM. Didn’t they?
JAN. No.
TIM. I thought / that’s what you said.
JAN. / No – no.
NEWSREADER. Good evening and welcome to the six o’clock / news. It was one of the world’s most advanced aircraft…
JULIE. / No we don’t wanna hear about the silly plane crash. No one died in that! Ha ha ha. I think he’s guilty but I don’t think there’s stiff evidence against him. There’s – it not a clear – it’s not a clear-cut case at all.
Outside No. 79 London Road.
SIMON NEWTON and SEB (his cameraman) are filming. Action moves between outside No. 79 London Road and inside London Road residents’ sitting rooms, where they are watching Anglia News.
Song – ‘Cellular Material’
SIMON NEWTON. Impossible to report because I can’t use, I use the word semen. / I can’t use the word semen at lunchtime and I can’t use it at six o’clock. I can use it at ten a’clock but I can’t use it before teatime. So how the hell –
SEB. / Can you not?
SEB. So what do you use instead? (Beat.) Love juice?
SIMON NEWTON. I don’t know really what to say… Bodily fluids. (To audience.) Well it’s just taste reasons we can’t basically have a what – what our editors call a ‘Mummy what’s semen?’ moment. Erm in the trade. Male bodily flu – male body fluid. Sounds as if he was going round spreading it all over Ipswich.
SEB. Boy juice.
SIMON NEWTON. Ready? Three, two one. (To camera.) Using his hands to demonstrate Peter Wright explained how forensic scientists had extracted Steve Wright’s DNA from other ce –
Beat.
Ready? Us
ing his hands to demonstrate Peter Wright explained how forensic scientists had extracted Steve Wright’s DNA from other ce – ce (Beat.) cellular material found in the… (To audience.) I told you didn’t I?
*
HELEN. I think he probably did do it.
GORDON. He must have done it really.
JUNE. I think he did. Definitely did.
DODGE. I think he’ll be found guilty.
RON. I think he did but he’s gonna get away with it.
ROSEMARY. It’s only circumstantial evidence.
TIM. I couldn’t sit there an’ say ‘Yes he dunnit’.
JAN. Really?
JULIE. He’s gonna get away with it.
*
SEB. Still running.
SIMON NEWTON (to camera). Using his hands to demonstrate Peter Wright explained how forensic scientists had extracted Pe – Steve Wright! Steve Wright – Peter Wright.
Beat.
SEB. Whenever you’re ready, / it’s running up. Okay.
SIMON NEWTON. / Okay.
SIMON NEWTON (to camera). Using his hands to demonstrate Peter Wright explained how forensic scientists had extracted Peter Wright’s – Peter Wright – Steve Wright. This is the problem with this bloody trial!
SEB. Too many Wrights.
*
HELEN. I think he probably did do it.
GORDON. He must have done it really.
JUNE. I think he did. Definitely did.
DODGE. I think he’ll be found guilty.
RON. I think he did but he’s gonna get away with it.
ROSEMARY. It’s only circumstantial evidence.
TIM. I couldn’t sit there an’ say ‘Yes he dunnit’.
JAN. Really?
JULIE. He’s gonna get away with it.
*
SIMON NEWTON. Ready. Three two one. (To camera.) Using his hands to demonstrate Peter Wright explained how forensic scientists had extracted Steve Wright’s DNA from other DNA material found on both gloves. Cellular material not DNA material. This is just, / this is so complicated. How many takes did we say we were gonna do this one?
London Road Page 5