FAMILIES of the five victims of serial killer Steve Wright today called for the Government to reintroduce the death penalty.

FAMILIES of the victims of serial killer Steve Wright today called for the Government to reintroduce the death penalty.

At a press conference given shortly after the 49-year-old was found guilty, the families branded the killer “a monster”.

They said it was wrong that Wright should be kept in prison at the taxpayers expense, urging the Government to look at bringing back the death penalty for such cases.

Statements read out on behalf of the family of Tania Nicol and Paula Clennell called for Wright to face the same fate as the two women.

A statement from the Nicol family said: “Today, as this case has come to an end, we would like to say justice has been done but we are afraid that whilst five young lives have been cruelly ended, the person responsible will be kept warm, nourished and protected. In no way has justice been done.

“These crimes deserve the ultimate punishment and that can only mean one thing.”

“Where a daughter and the other victims were given no human rights by the monster, his will be guarded by the establishment at great cost to the taxpayers of this country and emotionally to the bereaved families.

“The public must insist that this Government look at returning the death penalty for cases such as this, otherwise many more families will go through the same suffering that we have had to endure.”

The statement - read by the Nicol family liaison officer, Detective Constable Nick Shrubshall - continued: “As a family with children, we deserve rights.

“If they get into trouble with the law, we should be told. Why are we not informed in certain circumstances? We need to protect them as parents and the law must be changed so that we can help them.

“As a family, we would like to say a big thank you to all the police officers involved in this case.”

Paula Clennell's mother called for the death penalty for Wright.

In a statement read by the husband of the murdered woman's sister, she said listening to Wright's “lies and excuses” throughout the trial had made her feel sick.

Isabella Clennell said: ``Justice has been done. Steve Wright will hopefully serve the rest of his life in prison.

“I wish we still had the death penalty as this is what he truly deserves.

“He murdered five girls but at the same time has ruined a lot more lives.”

She said the murder of her daughter turned her life upside down.

“It's hard to explain the grief, sorrow, hurt and anger my family and I have suffered,” she said.

“I feel the pain will never go away.

“Listening to what has been said at the trial has been hard to bear.

“What right did Steve Wright have to take five lives?

“Listening to his lies and excuses has made me feel sick.

“My daughter would still be alive today if she had not been murdered.

“Who knows, she may have been off the drugs and leading a normal life. At least she would have had that choice. Steve Wright took that choice away from her and the other four girls.”

The family of Annette Nicholls told the press conference: “Nothing will bring our beautiful, loving mother, daughter and sister back home. This man has robbed a little boy of a mother he adored.

“We can rest now knowing this man is no longer on the streets of Ipswich ready to take another girl's life.”