A 63-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the three-decade-old murder of teenager Melanie Road, who was stabbed to death after a night out in Bath.
Members of Melanie’s family wept as Christopher John Hampton appeared at the city’s magistrates court on Monday.
Melanie, 17, was sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times in her chest and back in the early hours of 9 June 1984.
Hampton spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and home address in Bristol during the five-minute hearing.
Dick Ensom, chairman of the magistrates, adjourned the case until a hearing at Bristol crown court on Tuesday. Hampton was remanded in custody.
Last year detectives began DNA-testing hundreds of men who had been in the city at the time of Melanie’s death.
The teenager was attacked while walking the 15- to 20-minute journey home following a night out with friends. She left the Beau Nash nightclub at 1.30am and was last seen alive by her friends a short time later in Broad Street. Her body was discovered at 5.30am by a milkman and his 10-year-old son, close to a block of garages a short distance from her home.
Last year Melanie’s mother, Jean, sister Karen and best friend Susie Lecomber spoke about the impact the murder had had on them.
Jean Road wrote an open letter to coincide with the 30th anniversary of her daughter’s death, appealing for anyone with information to come forward. The 80-year-old wrote: “We mourn for our daughter and sister Melanie every minute, hour of the day and night.”
Karen Road said: “As much as this was 30 years ago, for me it’s every day and it never gets easier, and I can’t move on. The pain remains as strong today as it did when Melanie died.”
