THE man accused of murdering Heather Barnett appeared before Winchester Crown Court yesterday.

Italian national Danilo Restivo, 39, of Chatsworth Road, Charminster, is accused of killing the 48-year-old mother of two at her home in Capstone Road on November 12, 2002.

He denies the charge.

Wearing a blue suit, light blue shirt and striped tie, Restivo spoke only once to confirm his name.

He was flanked in the dock by three security officials and was assisted throughout by interpreter Valeria Malandra.

The judge, Mr Justice Burnett, heard legal argument from Michael Bowes QC on behalf of the prosecution and David Jeremy QC, who heads the defence team.

Discussions were also had about the timetable of the trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks.

After hearing legal arguments from the Daily Echo, the judge granted the press permission to use Twitter to report during the course of the trial.

Yesterday afternoon the process of jury selection began with a potential 64 jurors being whittled down to 12.

Mr Justice Burnett warned the jury panel that the trial was likely to be lengthy and asked each of them to consider whether they would be able to sit until possibly the middle of July.

As Ian Burnett QC, the judge was lead counsel to the coroner on behalf of the Government in the Princess Diana inquest in 2007/2008. The prosecution will open its case on Monday.

• Follow the latest from the trial at bournemouthecho.co.uk and @echonewsdesk tagged #restivotrial from Monday