A man has pleaded not guilty to the kidnap and murder of Victoria Hall, 17, who disappeared on her way home from a nightclub in Suffolk in 1999, and he is due to stand trial in 2026.

Steve Wright, 66, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to enter his pleas of not guilty when he appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Monday.

He is accused of killing Victoria Hall, whose body was found in a ditch five days after she was last seen alive.

Victoria, from Trimley St Mary in Suffolk, had left her home on the evening of September 18 1999 for a night out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe.

The defendant, who appeared by prison videolink, pleaded not guilty to an accusation that he kidnapped Victoria on September 19 1999.

The charge read to the court alleged that he had “unlawfully and by force or fraud took or carried away Victoria Hall against her will”.

Court artist sketch of Steve Wright appearing at an earlier hearing at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court
A court artist sketch of Steve Wright appearing at an earlier hearing at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Wright also pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering Victoria Hall on September 19, 1999.

The defendant, formerly of London Road, Ipswich, was not asked to enter a plea to a charge of the attempted kidnap of Emily Doherty in Felixstowe on September 18.

Judge Martyn Levett set a trial date of February 2 2026 at the Old Bailey in London with a time estimate of four weeks.

Victoria and the friend she was with left the Bandbox nightclub at around 1am on September 19 1999 and parted ways at around 2.20am.

That was the last time Victoria was seen alive.

Her parents, Lorinda and Graham Hall, woke in the morning to discover their daughter had not returned home and a missing persons inquiry was launched.

On September 24, her body was found in Creeting St Peter, around 25 miles from where she was last seen.

Wright was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey on December 2.