A MAN yesterday pleaded not guilty to the 2002 murder of Bournemouth mother Heather Barnett.

Italian national Danilo Restivo, 38, of Chatsworth Road in Charminster, entered his plea during a 20-minute hearing at Winchester Crown Court.

When asked by Judge Keith Cutler how he pleaded to the murder charge, Restivo, assisted by an interpreter, quietly responded “not guilty” in Italian.

A date for the trial was set for May 4 next year and eight weeks will be allocated for the case.

The post-Easter date was chosen to prevent potential interruption by the Easter holidays.

Smartly dressed in a grey suit and striped tie, Restivo, originally from Potenza in southern Italy, was told by Judge Cutler he would be remanded in custody until his trial.

David Jeremy QC, defending, made no application for bail.

The case will be heard in Winchester by a High Court judge.

Mrs Barnett, 48, was discovered dead by her two children in the bathroom of the family’s Charminster flat on November 12, 2002.

The seamstress was found with strands of cut hair that weren’t her own placed in her right hand.

Dorset Police used the BBC’s Crimewatch show on several occasions to appeal for information about the death.

Restivo, a trainee dental technician, was arrested at his home in Chatsworth Road in May this year.

He had previously been questioned over the murder but released without charge.

The inquiry into Heather’s death has been one of the longest running cases for Dorset’s Major Crime Investigation Team, led by Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper.