Crossbow Cannibal: The coward who took our children from us

More reports and background on Stephen Griffiths

Nicky Blamires said she thought of her daughter Suzanne every day.

She said in a statement: "Stephen Griffiths is a coward and we are shocked he pleaded guilty as it is not something I thought he would have the courage to do."

She added: "Our daughter was deeply loved and her death has left a huge hole in our lives.

"This will be the first Christmas we have spent without Suzanne in 36 years and I know I will never get over her loss.

"I wake up and think about my bright, articulate and much-loved daughter every day and I am serving a life sentence as a result of what that man has done.

"Quite simply no family deserves what we have gone through.

"All of these girls were people's daughters and much loved human beings."

A statement from Christine Thompson, Susan Rushworth's mother, on behalf of her family, said: "Susan went missing more than 12 months ago and as a family we still don't know where she is.

"We know that Griffiths has admitted to killing our daughter and there is evidence to confirm that.

"As a family we have not been able to put our daughter to rest because she has not been found, so we want to appeal to this man to tell us what he has done with Susan.

"She was a loving mother, daughter and sister and our family have been affected at every level by her murder.

"Our lives will never be the same without her and we are sure the stress and strain of the last 12 months contributed to the death of Susan's father, Barry, who died on 18 July.

"His final words were to ask for Susan and what grieves the family most of all is that Griffiths took away the opportunity for him to speak to her before he died.

"We hope that other women will see what has happened and move away from drugs and prostitution.

"We never want to see another family go through the horror we have and still are enduring.

"We would encourage all women to avoid drugs and prostitution."

Gill Armitage, Shelley's mother, said in a statement on behalf of her family: "Our daughter Shelley was very much loved and will be very sadly missed by us all.

"Unfortunately she took the wrong path at the young age of 16-years-old when she became a victim of heroin.

"Her death will haunt us for the rest of our lives."