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SYDNEY - A couple accused of a young girl's starvation murder appeared via video link in a NSW court today.
The seven-year-old girl weighed nine kilograms when her wasted body was found in a room littered with faeces at the couple's Hawks Nest home, north of Newcastle, on November 3.
Blakeley Ward, 46, and Sharyn Ward, 37, briefly appeared in Newcastle Local Court today via videolink from jail on charges of murdering the girl.
Dressed in prison outfits, both showed no emotion throughout the brief hearing, which was adjourned to the same court on February 13.
Christine Robinson, for the crown, said material was still being sought by police investigators before the matter could advance.
This included a final draft of the girl's autopsy, statements from government agencies and doctors and the Wards' financial records.
Neither accused applied for bail, which was formally refused by magistrate Michael Morahan.
- AAP
