Stephen Griffiths: Bodies Found In The Gutters

STEPHEN Griffiths: Anorak’s at–a-glance look at the ‘Crossbow Cannibal’ in the news. It’s Day Three of the story and its bad news for Griffiths:

Day 1: Stephen Griffiths: Ven Pariah, Demons, Hookers, Photos And The Yorkshire Ripper

Day 2: Stephen Griffiths: His Girlfriend, Prostitutes, TV Porn Stars And Public School

Day 2 update: Stephen Griffiths Is The Crossbow Cannibal: Now For The Book

Daily Express (front page): “I AM THE CROSSBOW CANNIBAL”

The Express cannot accept this new nom-de-gore, the one Griffiths gives himself in court. The front-page headline says this is the:

“Name Ripper suspect gave in court”

Stephen Griffiths is from Yorkshire. The press demand that he be a Ripper. He cannot be the Crossbow Cannibal. Sorry, Stephen Griffiths. They won’t let you have that one.

The Star says that Griffiths’ claims to be the Crossbow Cannibal makes him cocky:

JUST CALL ME THE CROSSBOW CANNIBAL – Arrogant ‘vice-girl Ripper’ makes amazing confession in the dock

You might have killed three women, Mr Griffiths, but the media will not tolerate arrogance. You are a Ripper. End of. Next!

The Times, a paper of record, agrees, and on its front page yells:

Crossbow Cannibal in path of the Ripper

It’s getting worse for Stephen Griffiths. He’s not even original. He’s a Ripper Mark 2. He’s the media’s Ripper Lite. Although, maybe this is the way he wants it?

Mr Griffiths’s PhD research at the University of Bradford included an in-depth study of the 1888 Jack the Ripper murders of prostitutes in the East End of London. The mature student has chosen to be defended by the same Bradford law firm that represented the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.

It’s pathetic:

Professor David Wilson said Griffiths was “an off-the-shelf serial killer” who acted how he thought one would respond as part of a sick fantasy.

The Mirror prefers to lead with gruesome details. Says its front page:

BODIES IN THE DRAINS?

Well, not says, more asks? Are there bodies in the drain? Would you like there to be? The Mirror doesn’t know if there are. But there might be. The paper toyed with “Bodies In the Gutters” but thought it too apt.

Say the Yorkshire Post, in spot of scene setting:

On the opposite side of Thornton Road, five forensic officers began the painstaking task of sifting through a pile of rubble which had been dug up from the ground.

The hole, which exposed a cable, was about five feet deep and appeared to have been dug by engineers before the police search began.

A digger was called to break the rubble into minuscule pieces which were then pored over by the officers using shovels and long sticks.

Photographers snapped away excitedly from behind safety barriers, but the detailed inspection had apparently drawn a blank last night.

You see, just as Stephen Griffiths is a media Ripper, the women he is alleged to have killed are “hookers” first and foremost. The Sun says they are hookers and hookers thy must be in life and death:

HOOKERS MURDERS SENSATION

Were all three women murdered? One body has been found but two are missing. Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth have not been found. The remains of Suzanne Blamires have been. Still, the headline is right, right?

Says the Guardian:

As Stephen Griffiths appeared in court charged with the murder of three women, police defended their investigation, saying they had had no reason to link the disappearances.

One senior Bradford officer, Superintendent Angela Williams, said the alleged murders had been “a huge shock” to the city’s vice squad officers.

She added: “They are a group of police officers who have a passionate commitment to not just arresting women involved in prostitution – which in itself is a short term fix and solves very little long term – but in getting them out of what is often a vicious circle of sex work in order to feed a habit of drink and drugs.”

Not just to arrest them but to help them. Hurrah for the police!

Cari Mitchell, from the English Collective of Prostitutes, told the BBC prostitute laws “had to go”.

“Three more women have been murdered, maybe more, not only the women in Ipswich, not only the women in Bradford.

“And this really is a moment when we have to take a new direction and look at what happens when you decriminalise prostitution because it’s just about sex,” she said.

The last word is with the Express, which stares at Stephen Griffiths’ parents, and delivers a passage of journalism that can only be described as revolting:

Speaking at his semi-detached home in Batley, West Yorks, Mr Griffiths – who has re-married – is three miles from his ex-wife who lives in a shabby flat in Dewsbury.

Answering the door, he denied sordid rumours that his former partner may have worked as a prostitute. Looking startled, he replied: “Don’t be so stupid”, before angrily slamming the door shut.

Rumours repeated in a national paper?

Former neighbours of Mrs Griffiths, 61, said she did not work but never seemed short of money and would often go out alone at night. They also claimed that a woman was frequently seen having sex with men in the family’s front garden and “didn’t care” who saw them.

Mrs Griffiths admitted illegally claiming housing benefits in March 2007 despite having over £50,000 in the bank. Dewsbury Magistrates Court was told how she claimed £8,500 of housing and council tax benefit to which she was not entitled over a period of three years.

With Stephen Griffiths in the dock, the Express seems keen to scout around and look for other targets to report on. Stephen Griffiths mum has done no wrong.

But, still, it’s all part of the entertainment…