FOUR people have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man in Farnworth.

Police have also revealed the identity of the victim, 43-year-old Ian Bendall, from Farnworth.

William Coughlan, Kathryn Colgan and Alex Smith, all of Ramsay Avenue in Farnworth, and Ellis Hampson of Oakfield Drive in Little Hulton, all appeared before Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, this morning.

No pleas were entered by any of the defendants during the short hearing.

Proceedings were adjourned until August 11 when a plea and trial preparation hearing is scheduled to be held.

A trial has been scheduled to start during the week of November 13 and is expected to last around six weeks.

Coughlan, aged 25, Colgan, aged 24, Hampson, aged 19, and Smith, aged 28 were all remanded in custody following the hearing.

A number of family members and friends of the defendants were present in court and shouted support to them from the public gallery.

All four of the defendants were charged by police last week following the launch of a murder investigation.

A 16-year-old boy has also been arrested on suspicion of murder. He has been bailed until Friday, July 14 2017 pending further enquiries.

On Friday, June 9 police were called at 5.55pm to a report that a 43-year-old man had been assaulted at around midday near Century Mill, George Street in Farnworth.

He was taken to hospital but discharged himself the next day.

He was readmitted to hospital two days later and died on last Tuesday.