Details of the tight security arrangements surrounding a high-profile court case have been revealed during a hearing.

A pre-trial review was held on Thursday in relation to the murder trial of a juvenile accused of killing a fellow teenager. The trial is due to begin on September 28 this year and is expected to last four weeks.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will stand trial in connection with the death of schoolboy Christopher McBurnie, 14, who died following an incident in the Close Drean area of Ramsey on May 29 last year.

The accused appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery via video link in September last year, where he was arraigned on a single charge of murder and entered a plea of not guilty.

During Thursday’s hearing, Deemster Graeme Cook outlined the provisions required during the trial.

He told the court the public gallery would need to be split in two, with a police presence, to accommodate the families of both Christopher and the defendant.

The jury of 12 will be selected from a pool of 150 people and, once chosen, jurors will receive a police escort to and from court each day.

The defendant had been due to appear by video link but was unable to because of technical issues. Both the defendant’s barrister, Siobhan Grey KC, and prosecuting barrister David Temkin KC agreed to proceed in his absence.

No issues were raised by either the prosecution or defence that would affect the trial date and a further pre-trial review has been scheduled for September 2.

Mr Temkin originally said 19 children could give evidence during the trial, but that number has now been reduced to nine, with their evidence expected to be heard during the first week.

No application for bail has been made and the accused remains in custody.