A teenager denied the murder of a pensioner in her care home flat when he appeared at the Old Bailey today.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have strangled 89-year-old Margery Gilbey to death in her room at Sonali Gardens sheltered accommodation in Shadwell.

Mrs Gilbey was found dead by a care home worker in her first floor room in the block in Sutton Street on May 24.

She had allegedly been stabbed in the neck as well as strangled. Her room, which she had lived in for just 10 weeks, had allegedly been ransacked.

A date for the trial of the teenager, from Romford, was set for October 7 after he pleaded not guilty to Mrs Gilbey’s murder.