TWO men charged with murdering a convicted child-killer at a maximum security jail have been remanded in custody after appearing in court via video-link.

Gary David Smith and Lee William Newell spoke only to give their names and confirm they understood the proceedings during an eight-minute hearing at Worcester Crown Court.

Smith, 47, and Newell, 44, are accused of killing Subhan Anwar, who was found dead by staff at HMP Long Lartin in south Worcestershire last Thursday.

A post-mortem examination found that Anwar, who was serving a life sentence for murdering a two-year-old girl, had suffered a broken neck.

Anwar, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was jailed in 2009 for killing his partner's daughter, Sanam Navsarka.

Smith and Newell have been moved from Long Lartin to separate jails in south-east England and appeared in court via a split-screen video-link.

Judge Robert Juckes QC, the Recorder of Worcester, adjourned the proceedings until a plea and case management hearing on May 7.