Shakira Spencer: Three in court accused of tortured woman's murder

Three people accused of torturing and killing a vulnerable woman and leaving her body in a child's bunk bed have appeared in court.

Shakira Spencer, 35, was allegedly fatally assaulted in the days before her badly decomposed body was found at her home in Ealing, west London.

Ashana Studholme, 37, Lisa Richardson, 43, and Shaun Pendlebury, 25, have been charged with her murder.

The case against them was outlined in a provisional hearing at the Old Bailey.

Judge John Hillen heard police found Ms Shakira's body after a neighbour noticed a smell coming from the flat in Holbeck Road, Hanwell.

Due to the body's decomposed state, the findings of a post-mortem examination were said to be inconclusive.

The defendants, Mr Pendlebury, from Ealing; Ms Studholme, from Harrow, north-west London; and Ms Richardson, from Ealing, were arrested on 26 September on suspicion of murder and charged three days later.

A trial has been set for 4 September next year, with a plea hearing on 20 December.

The three defendants, who were all represented by lawyers, were remanded into custody.

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