A 14-year-old boy has denied murdering a teenage girl whose body was found in woodland.

Lilly Jones, also 14, was discovered in Duffryn Park in Blaina, Blaenau Gwent, on 22 June, two days after her family reported her missing.

She died of multiple stab wounds to the neck and body.

At Newport Crown Court on Tuesday, the defendant from Blaenau Gwent, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to her murder.

A trial date was set for 23 November.

Dressed in a white shirt and a dark coloured tie, he sat in the dock flanked by four security officers.

When he was asked by the clerk if he pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charge of murder, he replied quietly, “not guilty”.

The families of both Lilly and the defendant were in court for the hearing.

Lilly was previously described as “the most beautiful, kind and caring little girl”, who was “completely and utterly herself”.