A 20-year-old Pembroke man charged with the murder of Prince Barrington Edness remains in custody after making a brief appearance in Magistrates' Court this morning.

The courtroom was packed to capacity as family members of both the defendant and the victim came to witness the proceedings.

Dion Hart is due to appear for mention and a bail application on December 22.

Since the matter will be dealt with in Supreme Court, the defendeant will not be required to plea guilty or not guilty.

The other charges against Hart are the use of prohibited firearms to commit the offence, use of a prohibited firearm during flight, possession of a prohibited firearm with a barrel shorter than 24 inches and possession of 0.4 Winchester ammunition without a licence. The charges alleged that Hart was concerned with another person who was not before the courts.

Mr Edness was shot and killed on December 7 following an incident on South Avenue in the Sunnyside Park area of Southampton. He had recently been cleared of premeditated murder in connection to the death of 18 year-old Jason Lightbourne, who was shot dead on Ord Road, Paget on July 23, 2006.

Hart was defended by Charles Richardson with Cindy Clark prosecuting before Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo.