A man has denied murder after a former nightclub doorman died from shotgun wounds.

Kenneth Batchelor, of Hendon Cottages, Canterbury Road, Chilham, is accused of killing Matthew Clements on November 18 last year.

Mr Clements, a 26-stone body builder - aged 41 and known as Mad Matt and Bigfoot - suffered a fatal chest wound outside 50-year-old Batchelor's home.

Batchelor entered the plea at a brief hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday. Bail, conditional on residence and reporting to police, was continued.

Judge Andrew Patience, QC, set the trial date for March 2 next year.

Mr Clements's home in Wayside Avenue, St Michael's, Tenterden, was firebombed in August 2006. He claimed he had previously been shot at and denied being a police grass.