Sex change defendant on murder charge

A defendant undergoing sex change treatment appeared at the Old Bailey today accused of pushing a cross-dressing lawyer under a train.

Nina Kanagasingham, 34, whose face was covered in stubble, sat in the dock at the Old Bailey wearing a prison tracksuit.

Judge Timothy Pontius asked: "This defendant is in the process of undergoing a sex change. Has it been completed?"

He was told it had not but that the defendant wished to be "addressed in her female name of Nina".

Kanagasingham was charged with murdering David Burgess, 63, who was hit by a train at London's King's Cross underground station during evening rush-hour last Monday.

Mr Burgess was a human rights lawyer known to his friends and family as Sonia.

Kanagasingham was remanded in custody for a plea and case management hearing on February 3 next year. No bail application was made.

Kanagasingham, of Chichele Road, Cricklewood, north west London, was remanded to Wandsworth men's prison.