A teenager was yesterday due to appear before Southend magistrates charged with attempted murder.

Trevor Laing, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff, is accused of beating a 34-year-old man in a late night attack on Southend beach.

His alleged victim was found by police in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Officers raced to the scene after receiving an emergency call from someone who said they had just witnessed an attack in Western Esplanade.

They found a badly injured man who was taken by ambulance to Southend Hospital with serious injuries.

Detectives investigating the beating had to wait hours before the man was fit enough to be interviewed.

He was still being treated in hospital yesterday.

Mr Laing, 19, was charged with attempted murder on Sunday afternoon, and held in custody for yesterday's court appearance.

The victim, who has not been named, also comes from Palmerston Road.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.