Academic's view: Student's 'desire to gain 15 minutes of infamy' is revealed

More reports and background on Stephen Griffiths

Leading criminologist Professor David Wilson, whose academic books were read by Griffiths, told the Yorkshire Post that the student was unique among notorious murderers because he seemed to have made a "conscious decision" to become a serial killer.

This could be seen, Prof Wilson added, from Griffiths's decision to live in a flat near Bradford's red-light district, where he could easily target sex workers, and his appointment of Lumb and MacGill solicitors, the law firm which represented the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.

"Also, he had gone to the same school as John George Haigh, the Acid Bath Murderer, so there is almost a 'wannabe' element to his story," said Prof Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University. It is almost as if he set out to be a serial killer and that was how he was going to establish his 15 minutes of infamy.

"He had read a couple of my books about serial killers and initially I feared that he might have read them as a 'How to...' guide."

Griffiths is the latest in a long line of serial killers who have targeted sex workers, which includes the Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright, the Yorkshire Ripper and Jack the Ripper.

"I have worked with so many serial killers whose motivation is so bizarre that, in order to understand the phenomenon that is driving them, we are probably best to think in terms of access and opportunity," Prof Wilson said. "We must ask, who has access to victims and who can use that access to make an opportunity to kill?

"Sex workers are at risk because they clearly give up access in return for money, and they provide opportunities because they go to areas they have no control over, where they cannot be observed."