A MAN on Friday (June 1) admitted shooting dead an Indian student in Britain but denied murder and will stand trial later this year.
Kiaran Stapleton, 21, walked up to complete stranger Anuj Bidve, 23, and shot him once in the head at point-blank range in Salford near Manchester, in the early hours of December 26 last year.
Appearing at Manchester Crown Court, Stapleton pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
He will go on trial for murder on June 25 with the trial expected to last 12 days.
Stapleton, who was wearing a grey jogging top and bottoms, was flanked in the glass-framed dock by four security guards.
He sat calmly throughout the hearing with his hands clasped.
Bidve’s parents, Subhash and Yogini, were in court and sat to the right of the dock, out of sight of the defendant.
They listened intently as Stapleton gave his pleas and was remanded in custody ahead of the trial.
Bidve was studying engineering at nearby Lancaster University and was visiting friends in Manchester when he was killed.
The judge banned the reporting of many details of Friday’s hearing.
