Khyra's mother appears in court

Angela Gordon, 33, and her partner Junaid Abuhamza, 29, are both accused of "causing or allowing" the death of Khyra Ishaq.

The pair, who lived together with Khyra and her siblings in Handsworth, Birmingham, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the offence contrary to section five of the 2004 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act. They are formally accused of committing the offence between May 9 and the date of Khyra's death, May 17.

The defendants were not required to enter a plea at the ten-minute hearing, and spoke only to confirm that they understood the charges against them.

A plea and case management hearing has been scheduled for the pair on September 1.

The Recorder of Birmingham, Judge Frank Chapman, told Gordon and Abuhamza: "This is just the beginning of the case against you. The prosecution have about eight weeks to assemble all the evidence they will rely on."

The process will take a little longer than usual because of the number of experts that will need to be consulted, the judge added.

Gordon and Abuhamza were remanded in custody when they appeared before magistrates in Birmingham two days after Khyra's death.

The seven-year-old was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital from her mother's home in Leyton Road, Handsworth, in the early hours of May 17.

A case review has been launched by the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board into the circumstances of the death.