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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National

Jodie Chesney death: Court decorated with touching tributes to stabbed teen, 17, as man in court over murder

Purple bows and ribbons, which represent the colour of Jodie Chesney's girl scout's troop, have been used to pay tribute to the stabbed teen (Picture: PA)

The outside of a court was decorated with purple ribbons today in tribute to 17-year-old Jodie Chesney as a man charged with murdering the teenager was remanded in custody.

Manuel Petrovic, 20, appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

He is charged with one count of murder over the death of Jodie, who was fatally stabbed in the back as she played music with friends near a children's playground in Harold Hill, east London, on March 1.

Petrovic, from nearby Romford, was arrested in Leicester on Tuesday.

Jodie's family released this photo of her after she was named by police as the deceased (Metropolitan Police)

The touching tributes to the teenager, which represent the colour of the girl scout's troop, adorned the outside of the court.

Jodie, described by her father Peter as a "proud geek" and a "great girl", was pronounced dead at the scene just over an hour after police were alerted to the attack at about 9.25pm.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of the death as trauma and haemorrhage.

Her death has added to the growing urgency for action to be taken to tackle knife crime.

Petrovic, wearing a grey tracksuit, spoke only to confirm his, name, date of birth, nationally as Croatian and address in Highfield Road during the three-minute hearing.

His lawyer Zahir Ahmed said there was no application for bail and chairing magistrate Nigel Bower remanded Petrovic in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

A second man arrested on suspicion of murder remains in custody, while the investigation continues.

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