A THIRD person was due to appear in court today charged with the murder of disabled horse dealer Leslie Jackson nearly 10 years ago.

David Neil Leek, 35, of Abraham Street, Mill Hill, Blackburn, was arrested and charged with murder yesterday.

He was due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates Court and police investigating the case were expected to ask for him to be remanded into custody.

Robert Peter Atkinson, 36, formerly of Chester Close, Blackburn, now of Manchester, and Bernadette Meadowcroft, 30, of Haworth Avenue, Church, are already jointly charged with battering Mr Jackson to death at his home in Sussex Drive in Audley, Blackburn, in November 1990.

Mr Jackson's body was found in the bathroom of his sheltered housing bungalow. The property had been ransacked and jewellery and cash stolen.

Meadowcroft, a mother-of-two and the dead man's niece, was remanded into custody by Blackburn Magistrates earlier this week when she was committed to stand trial at Preston Crown Court.

Atkinson appeared in court on Thursday when he was taken from Burnley General Hospital where he had spent two days being treated for leukaemia. He was remanded in custody and committed for trial at Preston Crown Court.

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