Steve Wright, 66, appears in court charged with the kidnap and murder of 17-year-old schoolgirl Victoria Hall

A former forklift driver appeared in court today charged with the murder of a schoolgirl in an area close to where her naked body was found in a water-filled ditch.

Steve Wright, 66, spoke briefly to confirm his name and date of birth as he appeared via video link in a six-minute hearing at Suffolk Magistrates Court in Ipswich.

Magistrates were told he was charged with the murder of Victoria Hall, 17, on September 19, 1999, in the village of Stowupland, near Stowmarket, Suffolk.

The court heard he was also accused of kidnapping the teenager from Felixstowe, Suffolk, on the same date.

The indictment states that he “unlawfully, by force or fraud took or carried away Victoria Hall against her will.”

A sketch of Steve Wright, who appeared in court in September 1999 after being accused of murdering a schoolgirl

Wright also faced a third charge of attempted kidnapping in Felixstowe on September 18, 1999, of Emily Doherty, who was 22 years old at the time.

The indictment states that he “attempted unlawfully, by force or by fraud to take or deport Ms. Doherty” at the resort.

He was not asked to enter pleas and was remanded in custody to appear before Judge Martyn Levett at Ipswich Crown Court this afternoon.

Wright appeared again at Ipswich Crown Court via video link this afternoon for a hearing lasting just over an hour.

He appeared on screens wearing the same gray T-shirt as during his previous court appearance as he sat behind a table in the same room at Long Lartin prison.

Robert Tolhurst, defending Wright, told Ipswich Crown Court that his client had “some mobility problems”.

The footage of Wright sitting at a table showed two stools leaning against a chair behind him.

Wright was remanded in custody by Judge Martyn Levett to appear before a Crown Court via video link for a plea hearing on September 2.

The judge also ordered that evidence for the prosecution and any requests to change the venue of the trial must be submitted by August 19, and that the defense must submit details of the case by August 27.

Judge Levett also set a provisional date for a four-week trial, due to start on January 13 next year.

The judge also extended the custody period for Wright to remain in custody in connection with the case until February 4 next year. Wright was asked if he had any objection and replied: “No, I don’t”

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

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

Miss Hall was last seen alive saying goodbye to her friend near the junction of High Road and Faulkeners Way, just yards from her home, at around 2.20am.

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

Wright looked gray-haired and wearing glasses when he appeared on the video link this morning, sitting alone at a wooden table with no one else visible in the room

The clerk asked if he could hear the proceedings and he responded, “Yes,” before confirming that he was not recording the hearing.

When asked for his name and date of birth, he replied in a clear voice, “Steve Gerald James Wright, 4/24/58.”

He could be seen resting his arms on the table and playing with his hands as the charges were read out, and the court was told the cases could only be tried at the Crown Court.

Stuart Cowen, a senior prosecutor, said: ‘I understand that this is a matter that will be heard at the Crown Court this afternoon, so in these circumstances I would simply ask that the suspect be remanded in custody.’

Sarah Brady, defending Wright, did not apply for bail and told the court via video link: ‘There are no applications, thank you.’

Victoria Hall (pictured), 17, was last seen alive on the evening of September 18, 1999 after going out with her girlfriend

Wright could be seen touching his chin with one hand as presiding magistrate Dawn Girling told him: ‘You are hereby bound to attend the Crown Court to appear at Ipswich Crown Court at 2pm.’

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

Suffolk police said at the time that they had received new “witness information” which they described as “significant” at the time.

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

He was released on bail while in prison until the Crown Prosecution Service allowed him to be charged on May 22 with the murder and kidnapping of Miss Hall and one count of attempted kidnapping.

Suffolk Police said the attempted kidnapping charge related to a 22-year-old woman who reported that a man approached and followed her in High Road East, Felixstowe, between 3am and 4am on Saturday, September 18, 1999.