18-year-old pleads not guilty to teenager’s murder

An 18-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a teenager who was fatally stabbed during a fight in Bournemouth.

Cameron Hamilton, also 18, was pronounced dead at the scene after the altercation in The Square in the Dorset seaside resort on August 5.

Thomas Betteridge, of Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, entered not guilty pleas at Bournemouth Crown Court to charges of murder and possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.

Co-defendant Lennie Hansen, of Waterlooville, pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender by changing shoes with Betteridge, but guilty to possession of a kitchen knife.

Judge William Mousley KC adjourned the case for trial on January 29 2024, with a pre-trial review to take place on December 18.

He told the defendants: “You will be in court on December 18. That will be a pre-trial review before the trial, which is to start on January 29 next year.

“In the meantime, Thomas Betteridge, you will be remanded in custody, and you, Lennie Hansen, will be granted bail on the same conditions as currently in place.”

The family of Mr Hamilton, who was from Bournemouth, said in a tribute released through Dorset Police: “Cam is loved so much by his whole family. We ask that our privacy is respected at this devastating time. We have not lost our beautiful boy, he has been taken.

“We don’t want this to be what Cam is remembered for; we want him to be remembered for the funny, kind and wonderful person he is and always will be.”