Indian student murder trial to begin (From Asian Image)

Indian student murder trial to begin

9:20am Monday 25th June 2012 in United Kingdom news

The trial of a man accused of the murder of an Indian student in Salford on Boxing Day will begin.

Kiaran Stapleton, 21, has already admitted killing Anuj Bidve, 23, who was shot dead at close range while walking with friends through the Ordsall area in the early hours of December 26 last year.

Stapleton, from Ordsall, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at a hearing on June 1.

But his guilty plea to manslaughter was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and he will now stand trial for murder.

The defendant is accused of approaching Mr Bidve, a complete stranger to him, and shooting him dead.

Mr Bidve's parents, Subhash and Yogini, are expected to fly from their home in Pune, India, to attend the trial.

Their son was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University after arriving in the UK last September and was spending Christmas with friends in Manchester.

He was on his way from his hotel walking through Ordsall to the Boxing Day sales in Manchester city centre with a group of other Indian students when he was killed.

The trial before Mr Justice King at Manchester Crown Court is expected to last up to 12 days.