Teenagers charged with London murders remanded in custody

Three teenagers charged with the murders of 16-year-olds Charlie Bartolo and Kearne Solanke in south-east London have been remanded in custody.

Hussain Bah, 18, and two boys, aged 15 and 16, spoke briefly to confirm their names as they appeared at the Old Bailey charged with both murders.

Charlie was stabbed in Sewell Road, Abbey Wood, and Kearne was found a mile away in Titmuss Avenue, Thamesmead, on Saturday 26 November.

The prosecutor said members of the public found Kearne bleeding from an upper chest wound on a pavement. Emergency services attended both scenes but Kearne was pronounced dead on Titmuss Avenue at 6.15pm.

Charlie was taken to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich, where he died just over an hour after the attack.

Bah appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Thameside prison. The 16-year-old was at Cookham Wood, and the youngest defendant sat in the dock.

Judge Angela Rafferty KC set a plea hearing for 21 February with a six-week trial at the Old Bailey from 6 November next year.

The younger two defendants were remanded into youth detention and Bah, of Greenwich, south-east London, was remanded into custody.