A teenager accused of strangling his student girlfriend to death in a Barkingside flat is set to stand trial in July.

Ako Amin, 18, allegedly struck Cheryl Tariah over the head with a hammer before throttling her with his hands following an argument at his shared flat in High Street.

The 17-year-old victim lived in Dunloe Avenue, Tottenham, and studied art at Chelmsford College.

Her body was discovered after police were called to a disturbance above the Buy Labels for Less store in High Street, just before 4pm on February 7.

A postmortem gave the cause of death as compression of the neck.

Amin appeared at the Old Bailey today via videolink from Chelmsford young offenders institution for a short hearing before judge Nicholas Cooke.

He held his head in his hands throughout much of the hearing and spoke only to confirm his name.

A trial date was set for July 30.

Amin has yet to enter a plea to a single charge of murder.

He was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on June 11.