Serial killer Steve Wright has been handed a new life sentence over the murder of a teenager almost 30 years ago.
Wright was jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years at the Old Bailey today after finally admitting the kidnap and murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall earlier this week.
The teenager disappeared early on September 18, 1999, in a village on the outskirts of Felixstowe, Suffolk.
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.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
The 67-year-old, known as the "Suffolk Strangler", is already serving a whole-life prison sentence for the murders of five women in Ipswich but it is the first time he has admitted any killings.
Mr Justice Bennathan told Wright it is "almost certain you will die in prison".
He said: “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 serial killer is already serving a whole-life prison sentence for the murders of five women | PANo life sentence could ever make up for the “loss and grief” suffered by Ms Hall's family, the senior judge said.
Ms Hall 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 on September 17.
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 Ms Hall saying: “I’ll ring you when I get up tomorrow”. Ms Algar replied: “You’ll hear me saying ‘ouch’ as I walk home.”
17-year-old Victoria Hall disappeared on September 18, 1999
|PA
Ms Algar heard “two female high-pitched screams” as Ms Hall was snatched by Wright and bundled into his burgundy Ford Granada Scorpio car.
Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told the court that having adbucted Ms Hall, 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.
The court heard Wright 'discarded' of Ms Hall's body in a farm ditch
|PA
When Ms Hall's parents discovered she had not returned home, the police were called and a missing person inquiry commenced.
On September 24, she was found by a dog walker near Creeting St Peter, some 25 miles away from her home.
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, an innocent 25-year-old businessman was accused of Ms Hall'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 similar to Ms Hall's.
Days before his scheduled trial, Wright’s legal team failed in a bid to bar jurors from being told of his five murder convictions.
Ms Hall'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.”
Victoria Hall's father said he will miss his daughter 'every day and will do for the rest of my life'
|SUFFOLK POLICE/PA
Her father, Graham Hall, 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.”
Speaking outside court, he added that his family had been through “26 years of hell which will continue from today onwards and forever”.
Following the sentencing, Samantha Woolley, a specialist prosecutor who led the CPS case against Wright, said: "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.
“This outcome should make plain that time does not preclude a successful prosecution; we will doggedly pursue justice for the victims of non-recent crimes, no matter how many decades have passed.
“Our thoughts remain with Victoria’s family, and all those who loved and cherished her.”
More From GB News