Wolverhampton pair deny murder of three-year-old boy
A man and a teenager from Wolverhampton have pleaded not guilty to the murder of a three-year-old boy who died in hospital on Christmas Eve last year.
Christopher Taylor, 23, and Kayley Boleyn, 18, also denied causing or allowing the death of Ryan Lovell-Hancox and a third charge of child cruelty.
Judge Melbourne Inman QC, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, remanded both defendants in custody and fixed their trial to begin on March 1 next year.
Ryan died at Birmingham Children's Hospital on December 24 last year, two days after an ambulance crew was called to the defendants' flat in Slim Avenue, Bradley.
Taylor and Boleyn are alleged to have treated the youngster cruelly between November 1 and December 24 last year.
Their trial before a High Court judge is expected to last about four weeks.
