by Keith Hunt

A man and a teenager denied murdering university student Ben Neilson when they appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday.

Zion Covey, 21, of Lynsted Close, Stanhope, Ashford, and Gareth Powell, 19, of Bensted, South Ashford, will stand trial on November 9. They were remanded in custody.

They were originally charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent after Ben was seriously injured in Ashford town centre on April 21.

It became a murder charge when the 21-year-old, of Essella Road, Willesborough, died a week later in a London hospital.

The former Norton Knatchbull School pupil had been home for the Easter holidays from Northumberland University, where he was studying for a degree in quantity surveying.