Man remanded over student's death

Mohammed suffered a serious head injury and died two days later

A man has appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of a foreign student in an East Sussex seaside town.

George Austin, 21, from Bermondsey, south London, is accused of killing 16-year-old Mohammed al-Majed in Hastings on 22 August 2008.

Mohammed, from Qatar, died from a serious head injury two days after hitting the pavement during a fracas outside a takeaway near the seafront.

Mr Austin entered no plea at Hove Crown Court and was remanded in custody.

Two other defendants appeared at the court during the same hearing.

Paul Rockett, 20, of Ham Lane, Burwash, near Heathfield, is charged with racially aggravated common assault on one of Mohammed's friends.

Alexander Quinn, 18, of Mountbatten Close, Hastings, is charged with wounding one of Mohammed's friends.

Trial set

They were ordered to return to the court on 13 March when all three will appear for a further hearing.

The three defendants were told they would be tried together at the same court with a provisional date set for 24 August.

Police arrested Mr Austin on an aircraft which landed in the UK from Cyprus on 20 November.

Mohammed was studying English at EF International Language Schools in White Rock, Hastings, and had been in the seaside town for about five weeks.

His body was flown back to Qatar after he died at King's College Hospital in London.