A man accused of murdering two men by setting an apartment building alight has denied all charges levelled against him.

Hakeem Kigundu, 31 and of no fixed address, is accused of two counts of murder in relation to the flat fire at Rowe Court that killed two men in their forties in December 2021.

He has also been charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and a count of arson with the intent to endanger life.

Appearing before the judge at the plea hearing in a grey sweater, sporting short hair, short facial hair, and a disposable facemask, he only spoke to confirm his name, and to deny all of the charges put to him.

In the indictment read to the courtroom, it was alleged that he intentionally burned down several of the apartments in the building.

He was accused of intentionally killing two residents - Richard Burgess, aged 46 years and Neil Morris, aged 45 years - and causing serious injury to two others, however he pleaded not guilty to all of the offences.

The building was destroyed in the inferno and residents were forced to jump out of windows to escape.

After emergency services extinguished the fire, which was said to have been started deliberately, they spotted the bodies of the two men amongst the burned rubble.

However, due to the delicate state of the gutted building, they could not recover the bodies until it had been made safe.

After weeks of work, they were able to take the burned bodies out of the block of flats earlier this year.

Following the hearing in Reading Crown Court, it was decided a trial would go ahead on June 7 this year, expecting to last two to three weeks.

The next hearing was scheduled for May 13 in the same court. Kugundu will remain remanded in custody at this time.