A man has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of carrying out a fatal stabbing outside his home during the coronavirus lockdown.

Rizwan Abbasi, 31, of Alexandra Road, in Walthamstow, east London, is charged with the murder of 35-year-old Tomas Macionis.

Last Tuesday evening, police were called to an address in Alexandra Road to reports of an injured man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Macionis, a Lithuanian national living in Walthamstow, had been stabbed five times, one of which was fatal.

Abbasi appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Thameside jail on Monday before Judge Philip Katz QC.

At the hearing attended by lawyers and court reporters via Skype, the judge set a plea hearing for June 22.

Remanding the defendant into custody, Judge Katz indicated that a trial of up to three weeks would be set at the next hearing.

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