Two 15-year-old boys have denied murdering 10-year-old Damilola Taylor.
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Damilola Taylor
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They pleaded not guilty when they appeared for a brief hearing at the Old Bailey.
Proceedings against two others, aged 14 and 16, also accused of the murder, have been adjourned to a later date.
The trial date was set for January 15th next year.
Damilola, 10, was attacked and stabbed on his way home from an after-school computer class at his local library in Peckham, south London, in November last year.
The pre-trial hearing was also told that the site where Damilola died is due to be demolished before the start of the trial.
The whole area on the Peckham estate in south London is subject to a regeneration programme.
The prosecution in the case is worried that a view of the murder scene may be required by jurors who will eventually try those accused.
Mr Brian Altman, prosecuting, said that appeals had been made to the local authority to postpone the demolition but it is feared they may not succeed.
He added: "The site is not easy to understand, particularly the stairwell, without having visited it. We are doing our best to try and preserve the site as long as possible but we may come up against a brick wall."
PA