A man charged with murdering Greenhithe schoolgirl Claire Tiltman 21-years-ago has appeared at the Old Bailey today.

Ex-milkman Colin Ash-Smith, from Swanscombe, was told this morning he will next appear for a plea and case management hearing on Monday, May 19.

It is alleged Ash-Smith, 45, who is currently in Belmarsh Prison in Thamesmead, fatally stabbed the teenager in an alleyway off London Road, Greenhithe, in January 1993.

Tilt, as she was known to her friends, was stabbed more than 40 times in January 1993 in an alleyway off London Road, Greenhithe.

Claire, who went to Dartford Grammar School , had hoped to join the fire brigade and regularly visited her local fire station while completing her Duke of Edinburgh Award.