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Man denies manslaughter of Arab student
13.03.09
A 21-year-old man pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a teenage Arab student in a seaside town when he appeared in court today.
George Austin, from Bermondsey, south London, is accused of the unlawful killing of 16-year-old Mohammed al-Majed.
Mohammed, from Qatar, died two days after suffering a serious head injury when he hit the pavement during a fracas in Hastings, East Sussex, on August 22 last year.
Wearing a yellow T-shirt and jeans, Austin appeared in the dock at Lewes Crown Court today alongside two other defendants.
Paul Rockett, 20, of Ham Lane, Burwash, near Heathfield, pleaded not guilty to a charge of racially aggravated common assault on one of Mohammed's friends.
Alexander Quinn, 18, of Mountbatten Close, Hastings, also pleaded not guilty to his charge of wounding another of the student's friends.
Austin was remanded in custody to appear for trial at Lewes Crown Court on September 21.
Quinn and Rockett, who were granted bail, will go on trial alongside Austin in the case, which is expected to last up to four weeks.
Police arrested Austin on an aircraft which landed in the UK from Cyprus last November 20.
Mohammed was studying English at EF International Language Schools in White Rock, Hastings, and had been in the seaside town for about five weeks.
His body was flown back to Qatar after he died at King's College Hospital in London.
