A 16-YEAR-OLD has appeared in court to deny battering a shop assistant to death.

The teenager, of no fixed abode but believed to be from Walthamstow, is accused of murdering David Cooper in Woolwich, South East London.

The defendant cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Cooper's body was discovered on Wednesday November 19 after police were called to a flat in Calderwood Street, Woolwich.

A post mortem revealed the 28-year-old died of head injuries.

Three other men arrested in connection with the murder have been released without charge.

The teenager was arrested five days after the murder and appeared at the Old Bailey on Wednesday to enter a not-guilty plea.