Steve Wright in court over Victoria Hall Trimley murder

Steve Wright is accused of murdering Victoria Hall, 17, who was last seen alive in the early hours of Sunday 19 September 1999, in High Road, Trimley St Mary.

Wright is expected to enter his plea at around 10.30am on Monday.

The defendant previously appeared in Suffolk Magistrates' Court and then Ipswich Crown Court to arrange this hearing.

Miss Hall left home in Trimley St Mary 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 September 19.

They then went to get some food at the Bodrum Grill in Undercliff Road West, before beginning the walk back to Trimley St Mary.

Victoria's body was found five days after she was last seen 

They parted at around 2.20am near to the junction of High Road and Faulkeners Way. Victoria was just yards away from her home.

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

Five days later, on Friday September 24, Miss Hall’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.

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

In September 2019, Suffolk Police revealed that the case – known as Operation Avon - was now a live inquiry again and being fully reinvestigated by a new team of detectives.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorised Suffolk Police to charge a man with three offences.

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

On Wednesday May 22, Wright, formerly of London Road in Ipswich, was charged with kidnap and murder, in connection with the abduction and death of Victoria Hall.

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