Man accused of the kidnap and murder of schoolgirl is fit to plea

A former forklift driver accused of murdering a schoolgirl 25 years ago is fit to enter a plea, a court heard today.

Steve Wright, 66, is said to have killed Victoria Hall, 17, who disappeared after leaving a nightclub. Her naked body was found in a water-filled ditch days later.

A psychiatrist has ruled that the defendant did not have any mental health issues which would prevent him from entering a plea at a later date.

Wright spoke only to confirm his name when he appeared at the case management hearing at Ipswich Crown Court in Suffolk via video link from HMP Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire.

The grey-haired and balding inmate sat alone at a table in a small room, wearing glasses and a grey T-shirt during the 20-minute hearing.

Wright is charged with the murder of Miss Hall on September 19, 1999, in the village of Stowupland, near Stowmarket, Suffolk.

He is also charged with kidnapping the teenager on the same date from Felixstowe, Suffolk. The charge states that he 'unlawfully or by force or fraud took or carried away Victoria Hall against her will'.

A third charge relates to the attempted kidnap in Felixstowe on September 18, 1999, of Emily Doherty, who was aged 22 at the time.

Asked about his client's mental state, Robert Tolhurst said: 'We have had a psychiatric report completed and Mr Wright has been found fit to plead, so at this stage there is no other issue outstanding.'

Asked by Judge Martyn Levett about the press reporting that fact, he added: 'It is a matter of public record and been referred to in court that the defendant is fit to plead.'

The court heard today that a trial would last around a month and probably take place at the Old Bailey or Southwark Crown Court in London.

Judge Levett indicated that Wright's trial could take place some time after May next year, depending on the availability of barristers and a court venue.

Mr Tolhurst said there was an 'inability to instruct' a King's Counsel barrister to represent Wright until a court venue had been decided.

The case was adjourned the case until December 2 when Wright is potentially due to enter pleas.

Miss Hall left home in Trimley St Mary near Felixstowe, on the evening of Saturday September 18, 1999, to go for a night out with her 17-year-old best friend Gemma Algar.

The two teenagers went to the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe and remained there until around 1am when they went to buy chips at the nearby Bodrum Grill takeaway before beginning to walk back to Trimley St Mary.

Miss Hall was last seen alive when she parted from her friend at around 2.20am when she was yards away from her home.

Her naked body was found five days later by a dog walker, dumped in a water-filled ditch around 25 miles away near a field entrance in Creeting St Peter, which borders Stowupland.

The police inquiry into the murder of Miss Hall was reopened by a new team of cold case detectives on the 20th anniversary of her death in 2019 in an investigation called Operation Avon.

Suffolk Police said at the time they had received new 'information from witnesses' which they described at the time as 'significant'.

Wright was arrested on suspicion of Victoria's murder two years later in July 2021.

He was bailed under investigation while being held in prison until the Crown Prosecution Service authorised him to be charged on May 22 this year with the murder and kidnap of Miss Hall and one count of attempted kidnap.

Suffolk Police said the attempted kidnap charge related to a young woman who reported that a man had approached and followed her late at night in Felixstowe.