A defendant accused of beheading a grandmother with a machete in her back garden has refused to appear via video link at the Old Bailey.
Nicholas Salvadore, 25, is alleged to have killed Palmira Silva, 82, in the garden of her home in Nightingale Road, Edmonton, north London, last Thursday.
Today he declined to appear at a first Crown Court hearing via video link from Belmarsh prison in south east London.
Bernard Richmond QC, for the defence, told the court: "I am instructed that he (Salvadore) does not wish to come into the video link room even with his legal team. He wants to be present in court."
Jobless Salvadore, of Gilda Avenue, Enfield, north London, is charged with murdering Mrs Silva and assaulting a police officer, Pc Bernie Hamilton.
No application was made for bail and judge Brian Barker QC remanded the defendant in custody.
Mrs Silva reportedly moved to London from her native Italy with her husband Domenico six decades ago. They married and had a daughter, Celestina, and a son, Rino.
An array of floral tributes were left outside the family's restaurant, Silva's Cafe, in Church Street, near Edmonton Green station, after the attack.
