A man has denied murdering his partner after she suffered fatal injuries in an alleyway in Ashford.

Steven Brooker was remanded in custody until his trial at Maidstone Crown Court on November 16.

He is accused of killing mother-of-six and grandmother Susie Smith, 50, also known as Beaney, on April 29.

She died in the William Harvey Hospital after being taken there from the alleyway between Christchurch Road and Godfrey Walk.

When the charge was put to 42-year-old Brooker, of Waterman House, Godfrey Road, today, he replied: "Not guilty to murder."