A boy has denied murdering a 22-year-old woman who was stabbed to death on Christmas Eve.

The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared at the Old Bailey on Tuesday over the death of Kacey Clarke last December 24.

He spoke to confirm his identity and pleaded not guilty to a single charge of murder.

Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC remanded him into custody ahead of his trial on July 15.

A pre-trial hearing was also set for June 18 at the Old Bailey.

Police had been called to reports of a woman suffering a stab injury at an address in Southwark, south-east London just after 10pm.

Despite emergency first aid, Ms Clarke died at the scene.

A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as a single sharp-force trauma to the chest.