A man remanded to HMP Elmley accused of attacking a young shop worker with a knife has been transferred to a mental health unit.

Ian Bartlett, 61, of Shipyard, Ash, was expected to enter to enter a plea to wounding 21-year-old Sophie O'Brien with intent.

But a judge at Canterbury Crown Court has heard doctors have concluded he was not fit to attend the hearing.

He was transferred to a special unit near Maidstone for assessment under Section 48 of the Mental Health Act.

The hearing was adjourned until April 7 to enable psychiatric reports to be prepared.

Emergency services were called to the Welcome shop, in The Street, Ash, last month after reports a woman had been knifed.

The air ambulance also landed nearby and she was then taken to the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, with a wound in her back and treated for a kidney injury.