A man has denied murdering a sex worker who was found dead in the West Midlands.
The body of Shara Millar, 41, was found off Woodburn Road in Smethwick just after 6.10am on August 11, with West Midlands Police saying they believed she had died in the early hours of that morning.
A forensic post-mortem examination revealed she died as a result of strangulation, the force said.
Appearing in the dock at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday, 31-year-old Tanveer Singh, from West Bromwich, denied murdering Ms Millar and will face a trial next year.
He was charged with her murder on August 12.
Judge Michael Chambers KC set the date for trial, which is expected to last five to seven days, as May 5, with a pre-trial review hearing set for January.
He told Singh he would be remanded in custody until the trial and warned him it could go ahead in his absence if he decided not to attend.
