Two men have appeared in court charged in connection with the murder of Canadian visitor, Rebecca Middleton.

Justis Raham Smith, 17, and Kirk Orlando Mundy, 21, appeared before Senior Magistrate Will Francis during a special court sitting on Saturday morning.

The courtroom was packed and silent as Mr. Francis read out the charge "that Smith on July 3 with premeditation unlawfully killed Rebecca Middleton''.

Smith, wearing a purple tee-shirt, long blue denim shorts and black sneakers, stood with his head bowed and continually scratched an arm as the charge was read out.

Mundy, who walked with a walking stick following a motorbike accident, was charged with "well knowing that Justis Smith had murdered Rebecca Middleton did receive, relieve or assist Justis Smith''.

Elizabeth Christopher and Archie Warner, representing Smith, made no application for bail although they asked that he was remanded in custody at the Senior Training School.

Mark Pettingill made no application for bail for his client, Mundy who was remanded in custody. Khamisi Tokunbo appeared for the Crown.

Neither of the accused were required to enter a plea on Saturday and they are due to reappear before the court on July 25.

Smith and Mundy arrived at court in separate unmarked Police cars. A plain clothes officer sat between the accused inside the court for the ten-minute hearing.

A crowd of about 100 people stood silently around the court complex as the two accused arrived and drove in through gates at the back of the building.

Inside, Smith, of Deepdale Road East, and Mundy, a Jamaican national of Brunswick Street, Pembroke, sat with their heads bowed.

They stood only when the charges were read out and spoke only once to confirm they understood those charges.

After the short hearing the pair were led out into the courtyard behind the building. Smith wore a white towel over his head and Mundy walked out wearing a baseball cap and sun glasses.

Crowds of people stood against gates leading to the yard and peered over a wall to catch a glimpse of the pair who were rushed away in unmarked cars to the Police HQ at Prospect.

A massive Police presence around the court, including detectives and uniformed officers, kept on-lookers at a distance and uniformed officers cleared a path into the road after the hearing.

One woman admitted she did not know why she came to the courthouse and waited outside during the hearing.

She said: "I was just curious, I guess. I just wanted to see the people involved.'' One man, who refused to give his name, said: "I know these guys and I came to show support.'' Ms Middleton, 17, from Belleville, Ontario, was two weeks into a six-week stay with a friend.

Her body was found in the early hours of Wednesday, July 3, on Ferry Road, St.

George's by passers-by. She had been stabbed.

Photos by Arthur Bean and Tony Cordeiro LEAVING COURT -- Justis Smith, (in picture at left), and Kirk Mundy, (in picture at right), leave Magistrates' Court on Saturday after appearing in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Rebecca Middleton.