Tenant denies throttling roommate to death

A tenant accused of throttling his roommate to death denied murder at the Old Bailey today (Tues). Mohammed Assri, 46, is accused of beating and strangling James Dowdell at St Mark’s Grove, Chelsea, on 17 February. A post-mortem revealed the cause of death as strangulation and blunt force trauma. Assri wore a blue prison issue tracksuit when he appeared in court via video-link from HMP Wandsworth. Judge Nigel Lickley remanded Assri in custody ahead of his trial fixed for 3…