Steve Wright pleads not guilty to kidnap and murder in Suffolk

Steve Wright has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murdering a young girl in Suffolk more than 20 years ago.

The 66-year-old is accused of kidnapping and murdering 17-year-old Victoria Hall, who disappeared on her way home from a nightclub in Felixstowe in 1999.

Her body was found five days later, on September 24, 25 miles (40 km) away by a dog handler in a water-filled ditch in Creeting St Peter, near Stowmarket.

Wright, formerly of London Road, Ipswich, appeared via video link at Ipswich Crown Court and was told his trial would begin on February 2, 2026 at the Old Bailey in London.

Victoria had gone out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub on the evening of September 18, 1999, and left the venue at around 01:00 BST the next morning.

They parted ways at around 02:20 BST, which was the last time Victoria was seen alive near her home in Trimley St Mary.

Police launched a missionary investigation after Victoria's parents, Lorinda and Graham Hall, woke up in the morning to find their daughter had not returned home.

Wright pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawful kidnapping by force or fraud and one count of murder at Ipswich Crown Court today.

The defendant did not file a charge of attempted kidnapping of a 22-year-old woman on September 18, 1999 because it was now “subject to dismissal.”

Wright's trial, who will remain in custody until March 7, 2026, is expected to last four weeks, and another case management hearing will be held on December 2.

Judge Martyn Levett said: “[The trial date] That may seem far away, but it will take an extraordinary amount of work to get there.”