A man accused of murdering a teenage girl after she drowned in the sea off Thanet has been refused bail.

Michael Bowditch, 21, of Prestedge Avenue, Ramsgate, has denied killing 17-year-old Becky Morgan.

Judge Jeremy Carey was told at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday that Bowditch’s mother was willing to stand a £30,000 surety and a bail address was available in Albion Road, St Peter’s.

But the judge said Bowditch, who was not present for the brief application, would remain in custody.

Becky had been seen in the water off the Port of Ramsgate at 5am on May 1 this year. Her body was recovered from the sea off Broadstairs almost three hours later.

Oliver Saxby QC, defending, told an earlier hearing the issue at the trial starting on January 23 next year would be how Becky, from Ramsgate, ended up in the water and whether it was deliberate.

The cause of death, he said, was not in dispute.

The court has been told that the victim’s parents are both profoundly deaf and sign interpreters will be needed at the trial.

Bowditch attended Chatham House School and was a carpentry student.