THE TRIAL of two brothers accused of murdering a popular Hampshire newsagent is due to start today.

Jonathan McKinley, 22, and Samuel McKinley, 25, each face a charge of murder and will appear before a jury at Winchester Crown Court this morning.

They are accused of attacking Choudhry Zishan outside his Eastleigh shop in the early hours of March 30.

Mr Zishan, who was 35 and owned five shops in the county, suffered fatal injuries after allegedly being attacked while on his way to work having just left home.

He had just left his flat above his Newsmarket store in Eastleigh High Street, where he lived with son Azaan, 5, and his wife Sabina who was then six-months pregnant.

Mr Zishan died for subsequent head injuries in Southampton General Hospital. The McKinley brothers were arrested later the same day.

The newsagent's death triggered an outpouring of emotion in the town and in Southampton, where Mr Zishan also spent his time working at Isaacs News in Queensway.

Floral tributes were laid outside the Newsmarket store in Eastleigh's High Street in the days after Mr Zishan's death as people paid their respects.

Customers spoke of their shock at news of the popular newsagent's death with many describing him as “a pillar of the community”.

Mr Zishan moved from his native Pakistan more than 15 years ago after his father arrived earlier in 1988 to settle in Slough.

The McKinley brothers, both of no fixed abode, deny murdering Mr Zishan.

The trial is expected to last around a month.