A Melksham man charged with the murder of Devizes dad Matthew Baggott is due to go on trial on Friday.

Daniel de Costa, 31, of Kingsbury Square, was arrested on suspicion of murder the day Mr Baggott, 34, died of stab wounds at Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

He received several stab wounds during an incident in St John’s Court, Devizes, on Thursday, September 6 2007.

De Costa was due to stand trial for murder in November last year but, following an application by his defence lawyers just a week before the trial was due to begin, the judge agreed to adjourn it.

It had been given a start date of last Monday, June 15, but will finally commence at Winchester Crown Court on Friday.

The death of Mr Baggott, who had a 12-year-old son, shocked the town as it happened in broad daylight on a busy market day.

Police officers and paramedics were on the scene in a few minutes but, despite their best efforts, Mr Baggott was pronounced dead on arrival at Great Western Hospital where he had been taken by air ambulance.

Messages, flowers and other tributes were left at the place he was stabbed, but they were later moved to the nearby churchyard where a shrine took shape at the base of the obelisk there.

Mr Baggott was a popular figure in the town and St James’ Church, Southbroom, was full to capacity for his funeral. Mourners wore pink items in his memory and a collection was taken towards the cost of providing a memorial to him.

He was born in Colchester, Essex, where his father, Brian, was a serving soldier.

The family moved to Bishops Cannings, near Devizes, in 1979, where Mr Baggott and his brother, Brian Talbot, enjoyed an idyllic childhood.

Both attended Bishops Cannings Primary School and went on to Devizes School, though studying was not Mr Baggott’s forte.

Mr Baggott had a seven-year relationship with Sarah Smith, with whom he had a son, James, or Jimbo.