A preliminary hearing for a husband accused of murdering his wife in Medway did not proceed today because of two hitches.

Agris Titans was not produced from Elmley Prison, Sheppey, and a Latvian interpreter was not available at Maidstone Crown Court.

The 24-year-old is alleged to have strangled Edite Titane, 22, (pictured left) at their home in Cecil Road, Rochester. Her body was found there on the morning of August 1 by her younger sister.

Titans was arrested outside Rochester Cathedral 34 hours later. The couple's three-year-old daughter is being cared for by Edite's mother.

Prosecutor Martin Yale said it would have been the first opportunity for Titans to seek bail, as magistrates no longer had the power to consider such applications.

But Richard Atkinson, defending, said it had not been his intention to ask for bail on that occasion.

Judge Philip Statman directed the hearing should go ahead next Monday. A plea will be entered on October 7 and the provisional trial date was set for January 30 next year.