Steve Wright Sentenced to Life for 1999 Murder of Teenager Victoria Hall
Serial killer Steve Wright has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years after pleading guilty to the brutal 1999 murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall. The sentencing at the Old Bailey comes more than 25 years after the teenager was abducted, raped, and murdered following a night out in Felixstowe.
Newly Released CCTV Footage Shows Victim's Final Moments
Newly released CCTV footage has traced Victoria Hall's last movements more than a quarter century ago. The footage shows the teenager leaving the Bandbox nightclub around 1am on September 19, 1999, with her hair tied in a bun. She glances behind before disappearing from view, completely unaware of the danger that awaited her just an hour later.
The court heard that Victoria may have died within an hour of being abducted by Wright after she was last seen alive at 2.20am. Her mother knew something was "badly wrong" when she discovered her daughter wasn't home at 8.20am that morning.
Details of the Attack and Aftermath
Victoria had been walking home with friend Gemma Algar after their night out. The two girls had bought crisps and were singing as they walked the two miles back to their homes. They parted ways around 2.20am, with Victoria saying she would call her friend the next day.
Ms Algar later reported hearing "two female high-pitched screams" as Victoria was snatched by Wright and forced into his burgundy Ford Granada Scorpio car. Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told the court that Wright murdered Victoria and sexually violated her before "callously discarding her body, stripped naked of everything except for her jewellery" in a farm ditch approximately 25 miles away.
Wright then returned to work at Felixstowe docks "as if nothing had happened," according to Ms Ledward. In the weeks following the murder, he sold his car, took out a £5,000 loan, and made preparations to travel to Thailand, though he returned to the UK in January 2000 when police began investigating a local businessman.
Wrongful Prosecution and Delayed Justice
Adrian Bradshaw, who happened to be in the same nightclub as Victoria Hall, was wrongly prosecuted for her murder and acquitted in 2001. Wright was never arrested or interviewed at the time, with bungling officers spending £2 million prosecuting the wrong man.
Victoria's body was found five days after her disappearance by a dog walker near Creeting St Peter, 25 miles from her home. The man's dog drew his attention to what appeared to be a "life sized rubber doll" in the ditch.
Connection to Later Murders
Seven years after killing Victoria Hall, Wright would go on to murder five sex workers in Ipswich's red-light district in December 2006, earning him the nickname "the Suffolk Strangler." Their bodies were found over a 10-day period.
Wright was arrested for Victoria's murder in 2021, two years after Suffolk Police announced it was a live inquiry again. More advanced DNA analysis of swabs taken from Victoria's body finally linked Wright to the crime.
Family Impact and Sentencing
In a victim impact statement, Victoria's father Graham Hall said: "In 1999 we were a normal family and then Steve Wright came along and took Victoria from us. The pain of the week that followed will be with us forever."
Tragically, Victoria's mother Lorinda died in December 2023, just weeks before Wright's trial was due to begin, never seeing justice for her daughter's murder.
Mr Justice Bennathan told Wright during sentencing: "Victoria Hall was a typical, bright, lively teenager. For reasons only you know, and most people will never start to comprehend, you snatched Victoria away and you crushed her young life."
The judge said it was "extraordinarily unlikely" Wright would ever be released from prison, telling him: "Given the sentence from your other dreadful crimes, it is almost certain you will die in prison." Wright appeared to give a slight shrug and smile as he was sent down from the dock.
Attempted Kidnap of Another Woman
The court also heard that Wright had pleaded guilty to the attempted kidnap of Emily Doherty, 22, which occurred just a day before he attacked Victoria Hall. In a victim impact statement read to court, Ms Doherty said she was "furious" that police treated her like a "silly little girl" and didn't take her report seriously at the time.
She asked: "For 25 years, I have wondered what if. What if they had taken my statement, could Victoria still be alive right now?"
Prosecution Statement
Samantha Woolley from the Crown Prosecution Service said Wright represented "the very worst of humanity" and that justice had finally been achieved for Victoria Hall after 26 years. She noted that their case was bolstered by critical DNA evidence made possible through pioneering new forensic techniques.
The court was told a decision would be made after the hearing on the "format and ambit" of any inquiry into Suffolk Police's alleged "missed opportunities" in the case.
