Three men were charged today with the murder of a popular accountant who died weeks after being attacked outside his Bloxwich home.

Vijay Kumar Thaper, aged 61, suffered broken legs during the assault by two men on his drive in Stoney Lane, on January 13 this year. He was discharged from hospital but died two months later.

Pritpal Panesar, aged 20, of Newcomb Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, Saranjeet Lotey, 21, and Sandeep Lotey, 23, both of Cranborne Avenue, Milton Keynes, all appeared at Walsall Magistrates today accused of murder.

They spoke only to confirm their names and did not enter a plea.

They were remanded in custody and will go before Wolverhampton Crown Court on November 10 for a plea and directions hearing.

Mr Thaper, a well-known businessman, ran an accountancy practice in Handsworth.

He was treated at Manor Hospital, in Walsall, before being discharged.

But he fell ill two months later and died on March 8 in City Hospital, Birmingham, despite efforts of doctors to save him. It  emerged he had died from a massive blood clot linked to the attack

Friends of the dead man have paid tribute to the divorced father-of-two grown-up children, calling him “a lovely man”.