A MAN will appear before Oxford magistrates today charged with murdering Denis Witney.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Rebecca Webber said Daniel McCollin, 29, was charged yesterday morning with murdering Mr Witney.

He was remanded in custody pending today’s court appearance. Miss Webber believed McCollin was of no fixed abode.

Mr Witney, 39, was found dying in St Clement’s Street, East Oxford, by police on patrol on Wednesday night.

He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, but died soon afterwards.

McCollin was one of four people arrested by police during their investigations.

Officers won permission from magistrates on Friday to continue to interview the suspects over the weekend.

One of them, a 36-year-old man, was still being held by detectives. They were forced to stop questioning him because he had to be taken to hospital with a pre-existing medical condition.

Two women also arrested, both 28, have been released on police bail until January while further enquiries are carried out.

A post-mortem examination on Friday found Mr Witney had suffered injuries consistent with blunt trauma to his head and abdomen, but police said last night the examination had failed to determine what killed him.

Further investigations are being carried out.

Mr Witney, whose identity has not been formally released by police, was homeless but had links with the Headington area.