A 63-year-old man from Bristol is due at Bath’s Magistrates Court today, after being charged by police over the weekend with the murder of Melanie Road.
Christopher John Hampton, of Fishponds in Bristol, was charged with Melanie’s murder on Saturday.
Melanie Road was just 17 when she died from multiple stab wounds to her chest and back.
The A-level student lived with her parents in St Stephens Close in Bath.
On Friday 8th June 1984 she went out for the evening with her boyfriend and other friends to the Beau Nash, a nightclub in Kingston Parade, a road which became part of the new Southgate development.
Melanie left the club 1.30am on Saturday 9th June, and was last seen alive by her friends a short time later in Broad Street.
She had decided to walk home alone, a journey that should have taken between 15 and 20 minutes.
Her body was discovered at 5.30am that morning by a milkman close to a block of garages in St Stephens Court, Lansdown, a short distance from her home.
A murder investigation began and during the following months in 1984 more than 90 people were arrested.
In April 2014, Avon and Somerset Police announced that they were carrying out a major review of the case to try to identify her killer.
Officers said they had a full DNA profile of the man they believed was responsible.
Following the announcement on Saturday, Senior Investigating Officer Det Insp Julie Mackay said: “We’ve been keeping Melanie’s family fully updated on the progress of this investigation and they’re aware of this latest development.”
