Five Daughters

We've just finished watching the final episode of the BBC drama Five Daughters which tells the story of the murders of five girls in Ipswich in 2006. We lived in Ipswich at the time of the murders and in a way we re-lived those difficult days through the drama. It was very well done, in spite of the uses of the 'F' word.

It is said that everyone knows where they were when they heard of President Kennedy's assassination. Well, I don't. But I will always remember where I was when the news broke that they had found two more bodies just off the Old Felixstowe Road. I was driving down the A14 from Felixstowe back to Ipswich in the afternoon, heading back to the church office to work. I saw the police helicopter hovering overhead and at the same time heard on the radio that their bodies had been found. There was that ache in the pit of my stomach. Instead of going back to the office, all I could do was drive home. Mercifully they were the last bodies to be found.

As we lived through those days and saw the press reports and the police news conferences, we were impressed that the police did not call them prostitutes, but women. This was in sharp contrast to some of the media. A charity was set up by the local paper and the local Council, Somebody's Daughter Memorial Fund to help users of addictive substances and their families; relieve distress amongst people working as prostitutes and education in misuse of drugs, etc.

Yes, we needed to remember that the young women were victims and that they had families - which the drama brought out.

I'd like to share with you some of the ways the churches were involved during that time. Clearly there was support of the families and the taking of the funerals, and some of my colleagues in Ipswich were involved in that. The churches organised prayer meetings, praying for the victims' families, praying that the killer would be caught and praying that the streets of Ipswich would become safe again. One of the meetings I went to, the father of one of the murdered girls spoke to us.

The centre of Ipswich had for some time been patrolled by our "Town Pastors" on Friday and Saturday nights. At the height of the investigation, in the days leading up to Christmas, the police asked if the Town Pastors could go out every night, which they did until the arrest was made.

Churches in the town centre were also reaching out to the girls on the streets, one church I know had a drop in centre.

Finally, currently in the advance stages of planning by churches is a Christian Therapeutic Community which will offer a residential programme to help women out of life-controlling addictions. This will be located on a farm outside Ipswich.

It is easy to forget how the churches were involved, were alongside the community and were reaching out. That part of the story is not often told. But that's what being a follower of Jesus is all about. Being, as Jesus said, "salt and light" in the community; and bringing hope and love where there is suffering and despair.