Murder accused appears in court
NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE AND CITY STILL IN THE TOP 10
A MAN accused of murdering a 29-year-old woman who was found stabbed in a city street has appeared at Leicester Crown Court.
Kashish Aggarwal, of Wintersdale Road, in Thurncourt, Leicester, appeared via a live video link from prison during a 16-minute preliminary hearing.
The deceased, Geetika Goyal, was pronounced dead at the scene after being discovered on the pavement in Uppingham Close, Goodwood, at about 2.30am last Thursday.
No pleas were entered and there was no application for bail.
William Harbage QC, prosecuting said: “This is the first crown court appearance in this case.
“The alleged murder was carried out on March 3. The defendant appeared before the magistrates yesterday (ie Monday).”
Judge Timothy Spencer QC adjourned the proceedings for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
He told the 28-year-old defendant: “The next hearing will be before me on April 12. I have provisionally set the earliest possible trial date, in October, but that may change although not by much.
“You must stay in custody and that’s the end of this hearing.”
After Ms Goyal’s body was found in Uppinham Close, the police cordoned off the area and carried out house-to-house inquiries, looking for any CCTV footage or witnesses.
LEICESTER and North West Leicestershire have dropped down the list of areas in England based on Covid-19 infection rates.
In recent days, both the city and the district have topped the list of 315 council areas drawn up using latest verified Public Health England data because the seven-day infection rate has not been declining as quickly there than in other parts of the country.
However, the virus incidence levels have continued to fall and the city now stands in fifth place in the rankings, one position above North West Leicestershire.
Just over the border in the north west of the county, South Derbyshire, which takes in Swadlincote and surrounding villages, is now home to the highest rate of infections.
Barnsley, Hull and Rotherham to the north are also now above all local areas.
Infection levels in the city are now only just higher than they were in June, when they triggered the UK’s first-ever local lockdown, and they are some four times lower than a peak hit in January.
However, public health bosses in the city expect infections to start rising again as the schools return and lockdown eases and have urged people to continue to obey the restrictions and maintain social-distancing, face-covering and hand washing.
The latest list, compiled by the Press Association, shows rates continuing to fall in Leicestershire’s other districts and boroughs though they remain above the national average in Blaby Charnwood, Harborough and Hinckley and Bosworth and Oadby and Wigston.