Steve Wright in court charged with murder of teenager Victoria Hall in 1999 | UK News

The 66-year-old defendant was also charged with attempted kidnapping of another woman.

A man has appeared in court charged with kidnapping and murdering a 17-year-old Suffolk girl in 1999.

Victoria Hall's body was found in a ditch five days after she disappeared while walking home from a Felixstowe nightclub on September 19 that year.

Ms Hall, of Trimley St Mary in Suffolk, was last seen alive when she became separated from her friend at around 2.20am, around an hour after the pair left Bandbox nightclub.

Her parents, Lorinda and Graham Hall, woke up in the morning to find their daughter had not returned home and a missing persons investigation began.

On September 24, her body was discovered in Creeting St Peter, around 40km from where she was last seen.

Steve Wright is charged with the teenager's murder and appeared at Ipswich Magistrates' Court via video link from police custody on Monday.

The 66-year-old, from London Road, Ipswich, was also charged with attempting to kidnap a woman the day before.

Wright placed his arms on a table and stated his name in court as Steve Gerald James Wright.

He also gave his date of birth during the hearing, which lasted less than five minutes, and confirmed that he could hear the proceedings and was not recording them.

The court heard Wright was accused of kidnapping Ms Hall in Felixstowe on September 19, 1999, and murdering her in Stowupland on the same day.

He is also accused of the attempted kidnapping of Emily Doherty in Felixstowe on September 18, according to the charges read out in court.

A 22-year-old woman reported that a man approached and followed her between 3am and 4am on September 18, 1999 in High Road East, Felixstowe, Suffolk Police said.

Wright was not asked to enter a plea to any of the three charges.

He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Ipswich Crown Court for a preliminary hearing later on Monday.