A man will go on trial for allegedly strangling and dismembering Met police officer Gordon Semple.

Stefano Brizzi, 49, is accused of murdering the 59-year-old officer at his flat on a day between April 1 and April 7.

Italian-born Mr Brizzi appeared at the Old Bailey wearing dark sunglasses and a grey tracksuit.

Recorder of London, Nicholas Hilliard QC, set a provisional trial date of Tuesday, 18 October. The prosecution alleges Mr Brizzi dismembered Mr Semple’s body and disposed of it in communal waste bins on the Peabody Estate in Southwark Street, south London.

Mr Brizzi was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on April 20.

PC Semple was originally from Inverness in Scotland and had been with the Metropolitan Police for 30 years. He went missing on 1 April and his remains were discovered a week later.