A YOUNG man has appeared before a crown court judge charged with the body-in-the-suitcase murder of teenager Terry Edmonds.

Philip Bell, of no fixed address, was escorted by three prison officers and a dock officer for the brief hearing at Maidstone on Monday.

The unemployed 21-year-old will return on October 20 when he is expected to enter a plea to the charge. He was remanded in custody by Judge Andrew Patience, QC.

Terry, 17, of Hadlow, near Tonbridge, disappeared after getting off a train at Tunbridge Wells railway station on April 17.

Her body was later found in a car park close to Morrisons supermarket in the centre of the town.