The alleged killer of Wagga teenager James Cleghorn will stand trial next year after pleading not guilty to murder.
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Bryce Cliff, from Wollongong, entered his plea on Friday when he was arraigned in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
No details were available on Friday about the grounds on which Cliff plans to defend the charge.
Cliff pleaded guilty during the Supreme Court appearance to a charge of aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence (larceny) using violence in relation to forcing his way into a house to steal the keys of a Toyota Camry which he is alleged to have then stolen.
That incident, in Tichborne Crescent, occurred soon after Cliff allegedly stabbed 16-year-old James to death in the teenager’s nearby Kooringal home on the evening of June 7 last year.
Justice Peter Johnson listed Cliff’s trial for Wagga beginning February 5 next year.
Three weeks has been set aside for the hearing.
Cliff will be sentenced for the break-in sometime after the end of his murder trial.
Justice Johnson ordered that the Office of the Director of Prosecutions (DPP) serve notice of its case on Cliff’s defence legal team on or before October 9 and for the defence to respond on or before October 30.
Cliff last month waived his right to a committal hearing in Wagga Local Court, a process where a magistrate would have decided if there was enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
Cliff has also been charged with driving while disqualified and driving while his his visiting driving privileges were withdrawn.
Police allege Cliff drove the Camry to Big Springs, about 20 kilometres east of Wagga.
He has not entered pleas to those charges, which will be mentioned again in Wagga Local Court on Wednesday.
Cliff did not make a personal appearance in court on Friday, instead facing the court via videolink.
Suffering multiple injuries, James was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene.
James' death shocked and devastated Wagga..
“James is a kind and beautiful soul taken too soon,” his family said in a statement released after his death.
The teenager was a Year 11 student at Kooringal High school.
He was a member of the school’s student representative council and had played cricket with the Lake Albert club.
James had plans to study at Melbourne University after completing his Higher School Certificate.
The community rallied around James’ family after his death, with more than 160 people supporting them by attending a Tears For James event in July last year.
