Serial killer Steve Wright jailed for 1999 teenager’s murder

Suffolk strangler Steve Wright has been told he will die in jail after being brought to justice for the abduction and murder of schoolgirl Victoria Hall more than 25 years ago.

Wright, 67, had admitted the kidnap and murder of the 17-year-old, who disappeared early on September 19 1999 in a village on the outskirts of Felixstowe.

Only the night before, Wright had attempted to abduct newlywed Emily Doherty, 22, who ran, hid and sought refuge in a couple’s house to escape.

The former steward on the QE2 is already serving a whole-life sentence after being found guilty of murdering five other women in 2006.

On Friday, Mr Justice Bennathan sentenced Wright at the Old Bailey to life in prison with a minimum term of 40 years.

He told Wright: “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.”

No life sentence could ever make up for the “loss and grief” suffered by Victoria’s family, the senior judge said.

However, the judge said it was “extraordinarily unlikely” Wright would ever be released from prison.

He told Wright: “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.

Victoria’s father, Graham Hall, told reporters outside court after the hearing: “Unfortunately, my wife, Lorinda, has not lived to see this day, but she did know that it probably was Steve Wright.

“We have lost our lovely daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter, have endured 26 years of hell, which will continue from today onwards and forever.”

He delivered the statement while his son Steven had his arm wrapped around his shoulder, describing his daughter as a “loving girl with a whole life before her” which was “snatched away” by Wright.

Earlier, in a victim impact statement read to court, Ms Doherty said she was “furious” that police treated her like a “silly little girl” and did not take her report of the attempted kidnap seriously at the time.

She said: “For 25 years, I have wondered what if. What if they had taken my statement, could Victoria still be alive right now?”

The court was told a decision would be made after the hearing on the “format and ambit” of any inquiry into Suffolk Police alleged “missed opportunities”.

Victoria was snatched after a night out with her friend Gemma Algar at Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe, where Ms Doherty had also been with her husband and friends the night before.

The two girls had bought a bag of chips and were singing as they walked two miles back to their homes.

At about 2.20am they parted ways with Victoria saying: “I’ll ring you when I get up tomorrow”. Ms Algar replied: “You’ll hear me saying ‘ouch’ as I walk home.”

Ms Algar heard “two female high-pitched screams” as Victoria was snatched by Wright and bundled into his burgundy Ford Granada Scorpio car.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told the court that having adbucted Victoria, Wright murdered her and sexually violated her.

She said he then “callously discarded her body, stripped naked of everything except for her jewellery”, in a farm ditch some 25 miles away, “as if she were no more important than a disposable commodity”.

Wright then returned to his work at the Felixstowe docks “as if nothing had happened”, Ms Ledward said.

When Victoria’s parents discovered she had not returned home, the police were called and a missing person inquiry commenced.

On September 24, Victoria was found by a dog walker near Creeting St Peter, some 25 miles away from her home.

The man’s dog drew his attention to what appeared to be a “life sized rubber doll” in a ditch.

The way Victoria was left had caused “untold” distress to her family, including for her mother Lorinda who died in December, before Wright was brought to justice, the court was told.

Ms Doherty’s later description of her attacker’s car later led police to identify 56 vehicles, with Wright’s among them.

After the discovery of her body, Wright reported an injury at work, sold his Ford Granada Scorpio, and lay low in Thailand.

The following year, a wholly innocent 25-year-old businessman was accused of Victoria’s murder and was acquitted by a jury.

In 2001, Wright was charged with a series of thefts, which he admitted, and his conviction led to his DNA being added to the national database, eventually leading to his identification as a suspect in the Ipswich murders.

The court was told Wright was given a caution in 1995 for allegedly damaging and stealing a former partner’s car but no DNA sample was taken.

In 2006, Wright murdered five more women in Ipswich, where he was living at the time and disposed of their bodies in a way similar to Victoria’s.

He was arrested over her death 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 linked Wright to her murder.

Days before his scheduled trial, Wright’s legal team failed in a bid to bar jurors from being told of his five murder convictions.

Victoria’s brother, Steven, who was aged 15 when his sister was killed, told the court: “It has been 26 years but time doesn’t heal, you just have to learn to live with it.”

His father, Graham, said in his statement: “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.

“Steve Wright robbed us of seeing Victoria grow into a woman, fulfil her dream of going to university, get married and have children, our grandchildren.”

“I miss Victoria every day and will do for the rest of my life.”

Samantha Woolley, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Wright represented “the very worst of humanity”.

She said: “Justice has finally been achieved for Victoria Hall after 26 years.

“Our case was bolstered by critical DNA evidence made possible because of pioneering new forensic techniques – along with a wealth of other evidence which gave him little choice but to plead guilty.

“Much attention will be made of Steve Wright being convicted of another murder, attention he does not deserve. Quite simply, he represents the very worst of humanity and I hope he will now be forgotten.”