Steve Wright denies Victoria Hall murder in Suffolk

Sixty-six-year-old Wright entered his pleas to the charges via a video link from HMP Long Lartin at a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday but didn’t enter a plea to a further charge of attempting to kidnap Emily Doherty on September 18, 1999.

At Monday's hearing, Judge Martyn Levett said Wright’s four-week trial will get underway at the Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey, in London on February 2, 2026.

He directed that a further case management hearing should take place on December 2 this year.

Victoria Hall (Image: Suffolk Police)

Last week, Ipswich Crown Court heard that Wright, formerly of London Road, Ipswich, had been seen by a psychiatrist who had assessed him as being fit to plead to the charges and to stand trial.

Wright is accused of kidnapping 17-year-old Victoria and murdering her on September 19, 1999 and attempting to kidnap a 22-year-old Miss Doherty on September 18 1999.

Victoria left her 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 about 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.

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 her 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, 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.

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.