A TEENAGER accused of murder has been refused bail.

Lewis Daynes was remanded in custody after he was charged with murdering Breck Bednar at a Grays flat in February.

Daynes, 18, applied for bail during a brief hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday but the application was refused.

The teenager from Rosebery Road, Grays, will return to court for a plea and case management hearing next month.

Daynes was charged with the murder of 14-year-old Mr Bednar after the teenager from Caterham in Surrey was found in a flat in Rosebery Road on February 17.

The final results of a post-mortem examination and blood and fibre analysis are still awaited.

Daynes' defence team is also seeking a psychiatric assesment before any charges are put to him.

A provisional trial date of September 15 has been set.