A former member of the Nazi SS has gone on trial in Germany charged with the wartime murder of three civilians in the Netherlands.

Heinrich Boere, 88, has previously acknowledged shooting dead three people in 1944, as reprisals for attacks by the Dutch resistance.

The trial went ahead after an appeal court ruled he was fit to be tried.

However, the hearing was adjourned when the five-judge panel said it needed time to consider more legal argument.

The trial is due to resume on Monday, court officials said.

Anti-Nazi protesters had gathered outside the court in Aachen as the trial opened.