THREE men are set to be charged with murder after a man was attacked outside his home.

Miles Andrew Whitfield, Mark Smith and Anthony Joseph Turner all appeared over video link at Preston Crown Court yesterday where they were due to enter pleas to an allegation of unlawful wounding.

That was in relation to the death of 50-year-old Stephen Pye who was found with serious head injuries outside his home in Venables Avenue, Colne, on July 18.

Mr Pye died the following day at Royal Preston Hospital from his injuries.

After examining new evidence the Crown Prosecution Service is now set to authorise police to charge all three men with murder as a ‘joint enterprise’.

They will now all appear at Blackburn Magistrates Court next week before facing a plea and trial preparation hearing at Preston Crown Court on December 1.

A provisional trial date has been set for January 8 at the crown court.

Prosecutor David Bentley had attempted to have murder added to the list of charges, which contains the wounding without intent charge.

But Judge Mark Brown, the Recorder of Preston, said the fresh charges should be sent to the magistrates court, saying that if they didn’t follow procedure and the men were convicted of murder the case could end up before the Court of Appeal.

Judge Brown said: “This is a case where at the moment the charge isn’t wounding with intent. At the moment the charge is unlawful wounding. If you were seeking to add a charge of manslaughter, that I could understand.

“I am struggling with murder in the context of simply amending the indictment which has a charge of wounding without intent.

“The defendants should be charged for them to appear at the magistrates court and the case to be sent back here.”

Defending Whitfield, Mark Stuart, said: “One has always got to think what it would be like to be sat on the train going down to London to be giving evidence before the Court of Appeal. Not as a witness but as to why as counsel at the time we allowed the crown to make this decision.”

Addressing the defendants, Judge Brown said: “The position is that the prosecution intends to pursue a charge of murder.

“It seems to me that from a legal point of view the better way of doing that is for the case to go through the magistrates court and then for it to be transferred to the crown court. Therefore it’s necessary I adjourn this hearing so that process can take place.”

Whitfield, 42, and Smith, 40, both of Allendale Street, Colne, and Turner, 64, of New Oxford Street, Colne, were all remanded in custody.