A SECOND suspect has appeared in court charged with killing a schoolboy in playing fields in Sittingbourne.

The 16-year-old local boy, who cannot by named for legal reasons, is accused of the murder of Michael Chapman.

An application for bail was refused during the two hour hearing before magistrates at Sittingbourne on Tuesday afternoon.

The accused boy will next appear before a judge at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, September 11, for a preliminary hearing.

Michael, 16, from Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, was attacked while he was walking home near Gore Court Cricket Club with his brother and their girlfriends on June 16 this year.

Four days later 18-year-old Lee Cowie, of Beechwood Avenue, Sittingbourne, was charged with his murder. He was remanded in custody at Maidstone Crown Court and is due to enter a plea on September 11.