A MAN is due to appear in court today charged with the murder of a landlady's boyfriend in her Essex pub.Steven Bishop, 56, was yesterday charged with killing Paul McKenna at The Chequers pub, in Writtle, on Easter Sunday.

By Juliette Maxam

A MAN is due to appear in court today charged with the murder of a landlady's boyfriend in her Essex pub.

Steven Bishop, 56, was yesterday charged with killing Paul McKenna at The Chequers pub, in Writtle, on Easter Sunday.

Mr McKenna, 38, lived at the pub with one of the two landladies. Emergency services were called to The Chequers at 1.40am on Easter Sunday to reports of a stabbing.

Paramedics tried to save Mr McKenna, but he was declared dead at the scene. A post mortem examination revealed he died from a stab wound to the chest.

The pub was closed at the time of the incident and remained closed yesterday.

Bishop, of Second Avenue, Manor Park, east London, is due to appear before Chelmsford Magistrates' Court today.

The pub has only been open since Tuesday last week after closing down in November, reopening under new management.

Floral tributes were laid outside the pub from villagers who knew Mr McKenna.

Yesterday Chris Hibbitt, chairman of Writtle Parish Council, said: “It's come as a huge shock for us. We have a reputation as a nice quiet little village with a village pond and church. It's come out of the blue.

“There has been trouble recently at local pubs, but never anything like this.”

He said a fire at the other village pub, the Cock and Bell, had been thought to be arson and The Chequers had lost its licence prior to its closure in November.