A WOMAN has died in hospital and a man has appeared in court charged with murdering her after a “melee” in Jaywick.

Bobby Nethercott, 31, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court this morning after police received reports of a disturbance on Friday at around 10.30pm.

The court heard Michelle Cooper, aged in her 40s, died in Colchester General Hospital on Sunday after she suffered head trauma.

Laura McLeod, prosecuting, said: “She was treated for head trauma after being involved in a melee outside the Post Office in Jaywick, where she was assaulted by Bobby Nethercott and others.”

The court heard two others were assaulted, one being knocked unconscious, in the incident.

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Ms McLeod said Ms Cooper was taken to hospital after she suffered blunt force trauma to the head, where her condition quickly deteriorated.

The court heard she was intubated as she could not breathe by herself, slipping into a coma from which she never awoke.

Nethercott, of Park Square East, Jaywick, is charged with murder and two counts of assault occasioning actually bodily harm.

He was remanded in custody until a preliminary hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court tomorrow.