A NEIGHBOUR of Steve Wright told the court today that he was unaware the 49-year-old lived with a partner.

A NEIGHBOUR of Steve Wright told the court today that he was unaware the 49-year-old lived with a partner.

Gordon Lawrence, who lived next door to man accused of five murders, said he thought Wright lived alone.

“As far as I knew there was only one person there. I only ever saw one person,” he told Ipswich Crown Court.

Mr Lawrence, whose property is separated from Wright's home by an access road leading to the rear of number 79 and neighbouring houses, said Wright had moved in soon after the previous tenants had moved out in September 2006.

He told the court that Wright's Mark III Ford Mondeo was often seen parked outside the front of his flat.

Other neighbours of Wright told the court how they saw him cleaning his car in the street

Prosecution witness Daniel Boote, a resident of London Road, Ipswich, said he saw Wright, 49, clean his car on one occasion in October and November 2006.

Mr Boote said he did not know Wright and had no dealings with him.

Cross-examining Mr Boote, Timothy Langdale QC, defending, asked him whether this was the only occasion he had seen him cleaning the car.

Mr Boote replied: "It was the only time I paid specific attention to it. I saw him on a few other occasions, nothing specific, just a glance out of the window."

Fellow neighbour Alfred Smith said he saw a man washing and vacuum cleaning his car outside 79 London Road on two occasions - once at 7.30am in the morning.

The court was later told Pamela Wright, Wright's partner, contacted Kenneth Beam in late September 2006 with a view to renting 79 London Road.

The couple signed a six-month contract, put down a deposit of £250 and moved in on October 1, 2006.

Wright, 49, of London Road, Ipswich, denies murdering Tania Nicol, 19, Paula Clennell, 24, Anneli Alderton, 24, Gemma Adams, 25, and Annette Nicholls, 29, between October 29 and December 13, 2006.

The trial continues.