Russell Square stabbing: Zakaria Bulhan appears in court charged with murdering American woman in knife attack

The 19-year-old is charged with murdering Darlene Horton and five counts of attempted murder

The 19-year-old Bulhan appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday (PA)

A man accused of mudering an American woman in a stabbing rampage in central London has appeared in court.

Zakaria Bulhan, 19, did not enter a plea during the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

Wearing a light grey tracksuit and carrying a handful of paperwork, the teenager mumbled his name, address and date of birth to the court with his hand over his mouth.

Bulhan had no legal representation in the short hearing, where he sat hunched and held his face in his hand as the names of the victims were read to him in court.

When asked if he understood the charges, he nodded and gave the judge a thumbs-up gesture.

He has been charged with murdering of 64-year-old American Darlene Horton in a stabbing attack in Russell Square on Wednesday evening.

Bulhan is also accused of five counts of attempted murder related to an American man, Australian man and woman, Israeli woman and British man injured in the alleged rampage.

Ms Horton was visiting London with her husband, Florida State University psychology professor Richard Wagner, who had been teaching summer classes in London. The couple had been due to fly home the next day.

Bulhan, a Norwegian citizen of Somali descent, moved to Britain as a young child and went to school in Tooting before studying IT.

He was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by PA