Man in court over 1968 murder

The teenager was found dead after hitch-hiking

A man accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy found strangled and sexually assaulted nearly 33 years ago will stand trial at the Old Bailey.

Brian Field, 64, appeared before magistrates in Staines, Surrey, on Monday, charged with the murder of Roy Tutill.

The body of the Kingston Grammar School pupil was found three days after he disappeared on 23 April, 1968, while hitch-hiking home from school.

It was discovered in a copse near the entrance to Lord Beaverbrook's estate in Mickleham, Surrey.

Case re-opened

As well as murder, Mr Field, a gardener of Rowood Drive, Solihull, has also been charged with a serious sexual assault on Roy Tutill.

Mr Field was arrested on Wednesday night at his Solihull home, and was charged on Saturday night.

At Monday's hearing, he spoke only to confirm his name and address.

The Roy Tutill case - Surrey Police's only unsolved child murder - was one of the force's largest investigations.

Detectives know he had been hitch-hiking from school to his home in Brockham Green, near Dorking, to save the fare to spend on a new bicycle and a large model train collection.

The arrest follows the re-opening of the case last month, when a team of retired officers who worked on the original investigation were called together to go back over all the evidence.

Mr Field was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 5 March.