Shooter will face murder trial

A MAN who shot dead an Indian student at close range will go on trial for murder.

Kiaran Stapleton, 21, yesterday admitted the manslaughter of Anuj Bidve, 23, on grounds of diminished responsibility but his plea was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service. He denies murder.

The defendant walked up to complete stranger Mr Bidve and gunned him down in Salford, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of Boxing Day last year.

Stapleton, who was wearing a grey jogging top and bottoms, was flanked in the glass-framed dock at Manchester Crown Court by four security guards.

He sat calmly throughout the hearing with his hands clasped. Mr Bidve’s parents, Subhash and Yogini, listened intently as Stapleton gave his pleas and was remanded in custody ahead of the trial on 25 June.