Christina Edkins murder accused to appear in court

A MAN will appear in court today charged with the murder of a teenage girl stabbed on a bus as she made her way to school.

Christina Edkins, 16, died after she was stabbed once in the chest on the top deck of a bus in Birmingham, last Thursday.

Phillip Simelane, 22, will appear at Birmingham Crown Court at 9.45am.

West Midlands Police were given authority to charge Simelane by the Crown Prosecution Service on Tuesday.

He was formally charged at 9am today, after he was taken back into police custody from a secure unit where his mental state was being assessed by medical experts.