A PROVISIONAL trial date has been set for early December for two men accused of the murder of Mikhail Hanid in Weston-super-Mare last month.

Mr Hanid was found seriously injured by officers in Ridgeway Avenue in the early hours of Saturday, June 27. The 47-year-old was taken to hospital in Bristol, but died three days later.

Two men – 30-year-old Samuel Ford and 27-year-old Curtis Ford – have been charged with his murder. They have been remanded in custody and are next due in court on Monday, December 7.

Two men, aged 28 and 31, remain under investigation. No further action is planned following the arrests last month of two other men, aged 30 and 56, in connection with this inquiry.

Detective Chief Inspector James Riccio said: “We continue to investigate what happened but we can confirm we’re reviewing a suggestion since charges were brought that it may have been a racially-motivated incident.

“We would like to reassure everybody that despite this, there is no evidence to suggest there is a heightened risk to any members of the public following this incident. We believe it to be an isolated matter and do not consider Mr Hanid was the victim of a random attack.

“We wish to be as transparent as we possibly can about our enquiries, however as the case is going through the court system, we cannot go into further details at this time for legal reasons as we do not wish to jeopardise the trial, which is provisionally planned for the end of this year.

“We are liaising with SARI and other key partners to assist our local neighbourhood team in managing any concerns within the community arising from what happened a fortnight ago.”

Anyone with information about what happened, and has not yet contacted the police, should call 101 and give reference 5220140603.