"I Heard the Door Slam": Tania Nicol's Mother Gives Evidence at Steve Wright's Trial, Sky News, 2008

A Sky News report from January 2008 on the evidence of Kerry Nicol at Steve Wright's trial: her daughter Tania's hidden life, the last time she saw her, and calls from Tom Stephens. Wright is not heard.

Subject

Steven Gerald James Wright

Recorded

about January 22, 2008

Runtime

2:35

Content warning: Concerns the murders of five women in Ipswich in 2006, with references to drug use and prostitution; no graphic detail.

The Report

This is a 2-minute-35-second Sky News report by Paul Harrison, uploaded by Sky News on January 22, 2008, during the trial of Steve Wright at Ipswich Crown Court. Wright is not heard. The report is narrated throughout and relates the evidence given that day by Kerry Nicol, mother of Tania Nicol; the brief first-person lines are quotations of her evidence, apparently read by the reporter.

Historical Context

Between October 30 and December 10, 2006, five women were murdered in Ipswich, Suffolk: Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell. Steve Wright was arrested on December 19, 2006, and charged with all five murders two days later. On February 21, 2008, a jury at Ipswich Crown Court convicted him of all five, and on February 22 Mr Justice Gross sentenced him to life with a whole life order. In February 2026 he pleaded guilty to the 1999 murder of Victoria Hall, 17.

Circumstances

Wright's trial opened on January 14, 2008, before Mr Justice Gross. Tania Nicol, 19, was the first of the five women to disappear, on October 30, 2006. This report covers her mother's evidence; Wright, who denied the charges, was defended by Timothy Langdale.

What the Report Covers

The reporter relates that Tania had been a promising student whose life changed at 16 when she began taking drugs, and that her mother had no idea she was working as a prostitute: "She told me a few different things." Kerry Nicol told the court of a call from a massage parlor asking for "Chantelle," a name she later found on a letter in Tania's bedroom, and of Tania's changed appearance after she moved home at the end of 2005. She last saw her daughter at 10:45 p.m. on October 30, 2006: "I was in the kitchen and I heard her go out the front door. I heard the door slam." Fifteen minutes later she reached Tania by phone on the bus into Ipswich, the last conversation they had. The next day a man named Tom Stephens called her three times; when she said she was thinking of calling the police, he replied, "I would if I was you." Under cross-examination by Timothy Langdale, she said a remark of Stephens's had struck her as "a strange thing to say."

What Makes the Recording Significant

The report is contemporaneous trial coverage from the original broadcaster. It records the family's account of Tania Nicol's last evening and the defense's questions about Tom Stephens, who had been arrested and released during the 2006 investigation.

Important Caveats

Wright is not heard, and no courtroom footage was filmed. Kerry Nicol's words are quoted by the reporter; it is not certain whether any line is her own recorded voice. The uploader's description misspells the victim's name as "Tania Nicols"; the correct spelling is Tania Nicol. Tom Stephens was never charged; the page should present the cross-examination only as reported questions and answers. The spelling "Chantelle" is not verified.

Paul Harrison: She was a promising student who'd done well at school. But Tania Nicol's life changed at 16, after she began taking drugs, her mother told Ipswich Crown Court today. And Tania had kept a secret from her family: she was working in the town's sex industry. Giving evidence in Court One, Kerry Nicol, Tania's mother, said she had no idea her daughter was a prostitute. "She told me a few different things. She was a hairdresser at one point," she said, "another time behind a bar in a pub."

Paul Harrison: But it was when Tania moved into a hostel in 2003 that she began taking drugs. She used heroin a couple of times in the hostel, her mother said, adding she'd even asked for help to get off drugs. Kerry Nicol also told the court that at one time she'd received a call from someone at this massage parlor in Ipswich called Cleopatra's. [unclear: "They'd" / "She'd"] asked for Chantelle, the name her mother later found on a letter in Tania's bedroom.

Paul Harrison: By the end of 2005, Tania had moved back home, here on the outskirts of Ipswich. But by now, her mother said, her appearance had changed: she'd lost weight and her skin was bad. She admitted, too, to finding syringes in her bedroom. Tania, though, denied she was still on drugs.

Paul Harrison: Kerry Nicol described, too, the final time she'd seen her daughter alive, at 10:45 p.m. on October the 30th, 2006. "I was in the kitchen and I heard her go out the front door. I heard the door slam," she said. Fifteen minutes later, her mother called Tania on her mobile. The 19-year-old was on the bus heading into Ipswich. It was the last conversation they would ever have.

Paul Harrison: Kerry told the jury that the next day she received three calls from a man called Tom Stephens. When she said she told him she was thinking of calling the police, Stephens replied, "I would if I was you." Timothy Langdale, defending Wright, asked Kerry Nicol about one of the conversations she'd had with Stephens. "Did he say, 'Would the girls go out and do what they do, even if one of them had got murdered?'" he asked. Kerry replied, "I did stop and think it was a strange thing to say."

Paul Harrison: Tania's mother left court onto the very streets her daughter had once worked as a prostitute. Steve Wright is accused of murdering her and four other women, charges he denies. Paul Harrison, Sky News, Ipswich. [02:31: speech ends; clip runs to 02:35.] ---