A MAN and a woman have denied the murder of an electrician who was gunned down and subjected to an acid attack in Wigan.

The body of Liam Smith, 38, was found at the bottom of his driveway on Kilburn Drive in Shevington, Wigan, in the early evening of November 24 last year.

On Monday, Michael Hillier, 39, of Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, and Rachel Fulstow, 37, of Andrew Drive, York, pleaded not guilty to his murder.

Both appeared at Manchester Crown Court via prison video link as a trial date of July 10 was set.

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Fulstow is expected to enter a plea to an additional charge of perverting the course of justice when she appears for a further case management hearing for the pair on May 15.

In January, Mr Smith’s family said he was a “devoted” and “adoring” father to his two boys, aged 15 and 11, and was a “dearly loved son, brother, uncle, cousin, grandson and friend”.