A MAN has appeared in court in connection with the brutal murder of a father at a Cheshire farmhouse almost 17 years ago.

Christopher Guest More Jr, 42, who was extradited from Malta, appeared at Chester Crown Court via videolink on Tuesday, March 31, in connection with the murder of Brian Waters, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Mr Waters, 44, was tortured and beaten to death in front of his two adult children at Burnt House Farm in Tabley, near Knutsford, on June 19 2003.

More has been wanted by police since he left the country shortly after the killing and was arrested in Malta on June 6 last year.

He arrived back in the country on Sunday, Cheshire Police said.

Nicola Wyn Williams, of the complex casework unit of CPS Mersey Cheshire, said: "Christopher Guest More Jr, 42, has today appeared before Chester Crown Court in connection with a number of serious offences, including murder, following the torture and killing of Brian Waters in Cheshire on June 19 2003.

"The charges will be formally put to Christopher Guest More Jr at a hearing on June 1 when he will be expected to enter a plea."

Former undercover BBC researcher James Raven, 60, Otis Matthews, 41, and John Wilson, 69, are serving life sentences after being convicted of Mr Waters' murder.

More is alleged to have been with the men when they stormed the derelict property, where Mr Waters was running a cannabis farm, in a row over a drugs debt.