A 27-year-old man is to stand trial later this year on a murder charge following a fire at a flat.

Daniel Fleming, of Clarenden Street, Dover, denied the charge when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday.

He is accused of killing Frank Coulter, 49, who died at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead in West Sussex on May 7 last year.

It followed a blaze at Mr Coulter’s home in Marjan Close, off St Radigund’s Road, in the early hours of April 30.

Judge Andrew Patience, QC, set a provisional date of November 12 for the trial, expected to last up to four weeks.

Fleming was refused bail and remanded in custody.