A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has appeared in court in New Zealand today charged with murdering and sexually assaulting a former Essex schoolgirl.

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has appeared in court in New Zealand today charged with murdering and sexually assaulting a former Essex schoolgirl.

The body of 15-year-old Liberty Templeman was discovered lying face down in a stream in the small town of Kerikeri in the far north of the country at the weekend.

Police said the youth was from the local area and was known to Liberty but was not her boyfriend.

Liberty, who was known as Libby, had emigrated from Brightlingsea with her parents Andrew and Rebecca and brother William, 12, in 2005.

She had moved south to Auckland with her family two weeks ago and had returned to Kerikeri to visit friends when she went missing.