Steve Wright charged with Victoria Hall murder in 1999

A 66-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Victoria Hall from east Suffolk.

Steve Wright, formerly of London Road in Ipswich, has been charged with kidnap and murder in connection with the abduction and death of Victoria, who was 17 years old when she disappeared almost 25 years ago.

Victoria was last seen in the early hours of Sunday, September 19 1999 in Trimley St Mary's High Road as she headed home from a night out with a friend.

She had previously left home the previous day to go on the night out, before leaving the Bandox nightclub in nearby Felixstowe at about 1am.

Victoria's body was found five days after she was last seen (Image: Archant)

Victoria was just yards from her home when she was last seen in High Road, at the junction of Faulkeners Way in Trimley St Mary, at 2.20am.

When Victoria’s parents woke up that morning and discovered that she had not returned home, the police were called and a missing person inquiry was launched.

Her body was found five days later by a dog walker in a ditch 25 miles away from her home in Creeting St Peter, near Stowmarket in mid Suffolk.

The teenager was returning home from a night out in Felixstowe when she vanished

In 2001, a Felixstowe businessman stood trial at Norwich Crown Court charged with Victoria's murder but was unanimously cleared by a jury within 90 minutes.

Twenty years after Victoria's death in 2019, Suffolk police revealed the case, which is known as Operation Avon, had been reopened.

Graham and Lorinda Hall, Victoria's parents (Image: Newsquest)

Information which had not previously been known had come to light.

Frank Ferguson, chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in the East of England, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Suffolk Police to charge Steve Wright, 66, with the kidnap and murder of Victoria Hall and the attempted kidnapping of another woman in September 1999.

The scene where the teen's body was found (Image: Alban Donohoe)

“We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial."

Wright has also been charged with one count of attempted kidnap in connection with a separate incident occurring the night before Victoria’s disappearance, whereby a 22-year-old woman reported that a man approached and followed her, between 3am and 4am on Saturday, September 18 1999 in High Road East, Felixstowe.

Victoria Hall's home in Trimley St Mary, pictured in 1999 (Image: Newsquest)

Wright, who was charged on Wednesday afternoon, is remanded in custody and is due to appear before Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich on Monday, June 3.