A 49-year-old Margate man has appeared in court this morning and denied murdering a construction worker.

Stanislaw Dubis, of Market Place, appeared in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court.

He is charged with murdering Slawomir Bartos in Market Place, Margate in September.

Speaking through an interpreter, he told Judge Adele Williams he was not guilty.

He will now go on trial in February and was remanded in custody. No application for bail was made on his behalf

Mr Bartos, from the city of Gniezno in Poland, died from stab wounds in Market Place.

He was single and had moved to the town about a year ago.

Ben Turner, from Dover, who worked with Mr Bartos in Thanet, said: “Slavo, as we called him, was a wonderful chap who we thoroughly enjoyed working with.

“He was the hardest-working person I’ve ever met and he will be a huge loss to us, but more importantly to his family back home in Poland.”

Investigating officer Detective Inspector Ivan Beasley, said: “We have been liaising closely with Mr Bartos’ family both in the UK and in Poland.”