Two men have denied murdering a lifeguard.

Harrison Tomkins, 25, was stabbed in the back and died from his injuries at a flat in Arthur Road, Crawley, on Sunday, August 13.

An inquest heard the lifeguard and leisure assistant from Haywards Heath was found unresponsive by police and with multiple stab wounds at around 5.30am after a resident of Camelot Court dialled 999.

Two men accused of his murder appeared in court at Lewes today.

Jason Curtis, 22, from Kent and Kaydon Prior, 23, from Crawley pleaded not guilty to murder.

Kaydon Prior also denied five counts of assault, one of strangulation and having a knife in a public place.

In a statement in August the Tomkins family paid tribute to Harrison: "Harrison was a loving, kind, humorous and precious son and older brother.

"He will be sorely missed by so many.

"His unwavering ability to see the good in others was key to his core values and this shone through in everything he did.

"In the short time Harrison has been with us he has made a wide-reaching positive impact -not only to his family and friends but also his work colleagues and everyone he knew.

"As a family we would like to especially thank Sussex Police and the other emergency services for acting so quickly.

"This swift action will hopefully bring justice for Harrison."

A trial, expected to last three weeks, is scheduled to start in January.