An Exeter man has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of a neighbour who was allegedly stabbed with scissors in a historic churchyard.
Joseph Willis, aged 49, denied the attempted murder of Helen Pearson when he appeared before Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, by video link from Exeter Prison.
He is accused of attempting to murder Helen Pearson at St Bartholomew's Cemetery off Exe Street, Exeter, on October 21.
The judge adjourned the case from a trial listed for April 7 and remanded Willis in custody.
Willis was arrested after a search by the police helicopter during a large scale operation which followed the alleged stabbing of the 34-year-old victim in the historic mediaeval graveyard in the centre of Exeter.
Both the victim and Willis live nearby.
