Victoria Hall: Man, 66, charged with kidnap and murder of Felixstowe teen after night out 24 years ago

A 66-year-old man has been charged with the kidnap and murder of a teenage girl which took place over 24 years ago. Victoria Hall, aged 17, was just yards away from her home when she was last seen alive in the early hours of Sunday, September 19, 1999 in High Road, Trimley St Mary in Felixstowe.

Victoria left home on the evening of Saturday, September 18, 1999 to go for a night out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Bent Hill, Felixstowe, where they remained until around 1am on the morning of Sunday 19 September.

They then went to get some food at the Bodrum Grill in Undercliff Road West, before beginning the walk back to Trimley St Mary. They went on separate ways at around 2.20am near to the junction of High Road and Faulkeners Way. Victoria’s parents called the police in the morning after she failed to return home.

Five days later, on Friday, September 24, Victoria’s body was found in a ditch beside a field by a dog walker in Creeting Lane, Creeting St Peter, approximately 25 miles away from where she was last seen.

Following an investigation dubbed Operation Avon - set up in September 2019 - by a new team of detectives, Steve Wright, 66, previously of London Road in Ipswich, has been charged with kidnap and murder, in connection with the abduction and death of Victoria Hall.

He has also been charged with one count of attempted kidnap in connection with a separate incident occurring the night before Victoria’s disappearance, where 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.

Wright has been remanded in custody and is due to appear before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on Monday, June 3