A BASILDON man is among seven to be charged with murder after new forensic evidence was brought to light.

The men appeared in court on Friday in connection with the death of Trevor Cowan on April 18 this year.

Mr Cowan, 35, was taken ill at an address in Parsonage Road, Grays, and later died in hospital despite the best efforts of paramedics and hospital staff.

Police investigations have established Mr Cowan had been attacked on the evening of April 12, five days before his death.

Following the launch of the murder probe, more than 40 officers from the Serious Crime Directorate and the Operational Support Group raided addresses in Tilbury, Grays, and Dagenham in May in connection to his death.

The raids saw a total of five people arrested.

On August 7, seven men charged in connection with the death of Trevor Cowan in Grays had their charges for manslaughter and murder dismissed at a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The judge ruled the charges should be dismissed due to a lack of evidence linking an alleged assault to Mr Cowan’s death.

In June 2019, Britain’s largest forensic provider Eurofins was the subject of a sophisticated cyber-attack which prevented them from carrying out any work until the end of July.

And because of this, essential forensic examinations could not be completed in time and we were therefore unable to present key forensic evidence to the court.

Since that time, the forensic evidence has been processed and the prosecution has been able to provide the additional evidence.

An application was made to the High Court by the prosecution for permission to lay charges of murder against all defendants, which was granted.

Now, seven men have been charged with murder, aggravated burglary and two counts of assault by beating.

David Guwazah, 38, of Leighton Gardens, Basildon, Jamie Dowman, 34, of Raphael Avenue, Tilbury, Jamie Sheppard, 29, of Rainham Road South, Dagenham, Alfie Livett, 20 of Leighton Gardens, Tilbury, and Harry Millington, 27, of Salisbury Road, Grays, Robert Grant, 28, of Townmead Road, London, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday. The seventh man, Stephen Moloney, 46, of Crow Lane Romford, was represented by his counsel. They will stand trial in January.