A 41-year-old Hampstead man has denied the vicious murder of a Cobham schoolgirl at the Old Bailey this week.

Maartje Tamboezer, 15, was gagged by her own sock before being raped, strangled then set on fire 14 years ago.

David Mulcahy was arrested after John Duffy, who was sentenced last year to seven life sentences for five rapes and two murders including Maartje's, claimed that Mulchahy had been his accomplice in the teenager's death.

Maartje, the daughter of a Dutch businessman, was a pupil at the American Community School in Portsmouth Road and had only been in the country for a year before she was killed.

The court heard that Maartje was last seen by her sister Jessica on the day she died, riding her bike from school in Cobham to a sweet shop in East Horsley where she wanted to buy sweets for her friends.

Prosecutor Mark Dennis told the court Mulcahy and Duffy watched her ride past from behind some trees.

As she rode back towards Cobham, they stretched a plastic fishing line across an alley, knocking her off her bike.

The teenager, who was only 5ft 4ins tall, was hit across the face and bundled into a muddy field where Duffy raped her, the court heard.

Mulcahy is then alleged to have knocked her senseless with a rock.

It was alleged that Mulcahy, fearing she could identify them, ordered Duffy to kill her.

Mr Dennis said Mulcahy tied the girl's belt around her neck and told Duffy: "I did the other one. It's your turn to do this one."

Her body was then set alight and her charred remains were later discovered in a nearby wood.

Home Office Pathologist, Dr Roger Ainsworth told the court last Tuesday that her injuries were consistent with a violent sexual assault and her wrists and thumbs had been bound before she was set on fire.

Mulcahy denies all the charges including the murder of Maarjte. A verdict is expected in December.