FOR the second time in less than ten years, the twin Trimley villages are in the full gaze of the public eye.

FOR the second time in less than ten years, the twin Trimley villages are in the full gaze of the public eye.

It was seven years ago that the nation's media descended on the area after 17-year-old Victoria Hall was snatched off the street near her Trimley St Mary home.

Her body was later found in a water-filled ditch at Creeting St Peter, near Stowmarket, and her killer has never been caught.

And now the arrest of Tom Stephens at his home in Jubilee Close, Trimley St Martin, has once again thrust the area into the national spotlight.

While police are keen to stress there is no link between Miss Hall's death and the five latest murders, the latest developments have brought back painful memories for people in the area - particularly Miss Hall's family.

Her father Graham, of Faulkeners Way, Trimley St Mary, said: “It has been a very difficult week and it has brought back horrible, awful memories.

“But any time young people are killed, whether it is young women like this or a youngster in a car crash, it brings back memories. It makes you feel pretty depressed.

“We really feel for the families of these young women who have been killed and send our sympathies to them - we know exactly what they are going through, we know how they feel and what a terrible time they will be having.”

Mr Hall said one of the most painful parts of the grieving process had been the unanswered questions.

He said: “Everyone wants to know why - we would like to know why Victoria was taken.

“You also want justice, want the person who did it to be caught. It is not going to bring back Victoria or any of the other girls, but there should be justice.”

He said: “We don't know where the person came from, who they were, or whether they came from away and afterwards went back there.”

Sherrie Green, Suffolk Coastal district councillor for the Trimleys, said the villages were once again the subject of unwanted attention.

“I would think all the residents will be concerned because it is obviously such a shock,” she said. “Once again we find ourselves in an unwelcome spotlight and of course it is something that we don't want.”