A Slough man charged with murdering a woman and dumping her body in a lake has indicated a ‘not guilty’ plea despite refusing to appear in court again. 

Donald Robertson, formerly of Slough, was in November 2021 charged with the murder of Shani Warren, whose body was found in Taplow Lake days after she disappeared on April 17, 1987, aged just 26.

At Reading Crown Court this morning (Friday) the court heard how Robertson was charged with murder, unlawful imprisonment and indecent assault of Ms Warren.

Robertson, 66, has also been charged with the rape and kidnap of a 16-year-old girl on Farnham Lane, Slough, in July 1981. She cannot be named for legal reasons.

At a pre-trial hearing on March 11, Lord Justice Wall told Reading Crown Court that Robertson had refused to appear via video link from custody. 

The judge said this hearing would have been Robertson’s first opportunity to enter pleas.

Robertson’s barrister, Michael Ivers, said the defence team had had “sufficient engagement that the instruction is not guilty”, although formal pleas were not entered. 

Instead, Mr Justice Wall said the indictment will be put to Robertson on the first day of the trial, which was confirmed for Tuesday, April 27. 

The trial is expected to last for four weeks. 

It was also heard that the first two days of the trial will be dedicated to ironing out legal matters and issues in the case. 

Today’s hearing came after Robertson refused to leave his cell at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire in order to appear before Reading Crown Court on November 29, 2021. 

Ms Warren, who came to be known as the ‘Lady in the Lake’ after her body was found in the water in Taplow, went missing on Good Friday, April 17, 1987.

She never returned to her home in Stoke Poges, and she was found in the lake the following Sunday by a walker.

A coroner ruled that Ms Warren died by drowning, and police initially ruled that her death was suicide, but an extensive investigation in recent years saw Donaldson arrested on June 22 this year, and he was charged with her murder in November 2021. 

There are no further pre-trial hearings planned before the trial is due to begin.