A 36-year-old man accused of murdering his friend has been remanded in custody until March.

IPSWICH: A 36-year-old man accused of murdering his friend has been remanded in custody until March.

Jevgenijs Maksimovs, of Hayhill Road, appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Christmas Eve for a five-minute hearing into his case.

Maksimovs, who is believed to be a former member of the Russian Special Forces, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

He is accused of the murder of Jurijs Baklasovs, whose body was discovered on farmland north of Framlingham just off the B1120 at New Road, near Brabling Green at around 12.45pm on Tuesday.

However, when outlining the charge to magistrates, the clerk said the date of the 43-year-old's alleged murder was two days earlier - Sunday, December 20.

The shaven-headed Maksimovs, who was wearing an olive green sweatshirt and grey jogging bottoms, stood with his hands behind his back as proceedings were relayed to him through an interpreter.

Prosecutor Naomi Turner told magistrates the case needed to be committed straight to Ipswich Crown Court due to the seriousness of the charge against Maksimovs.

Mrs Turner added that as there would be no application for bail from defence solicitor Claire Hullock, she would not be going into the details of the case.

Addressing Maksimovs, chairman of the bench Peter Page said: “Mr Maksimovs, you will be aware that this court can not deal with this matter. It will therefore be sent to crown court where you will stand trial in due course.

“Your first appearance at crown court will be on March 5.”

A plea and the case management are due to be discussed at the hearing in three months time.

Maksimovs and Mr Baklasovs are thought to have been staying at the same house in Hayhill Road, along with Maksimovs' wife and a child.

Both accused and the deceased are Latvian nationals.