A MAN has pleaded not guilty to murdering an elderly woman.

Benjamin Brough, aged 21, of no fixed address, appeared at Warwick Crown Court yesterday.

A trial has been fixed for July 10 at Stafford Crown Court and is expected to last eight days.

Brough is accused of the murder of Ada Hopkinson in Leek between March 16 and March 19, 2005.

Mrs Hopkinson died in hospital in February this year, aged 97.

She failed to recover from the brain injuries suffered during a break-in at her home in Shirburn Road, Leek.