Briton faces murder charge in US

Mr Tillman lived above the garage where the marijuana was grown

A British medical marijuana grower is to appear before a US court charged with murdering a 67-year-old man.

Andrew Sharkey, 36, is accused of strangling Michael Van Tillman in a garage which housed his legal marijuana business in Guerneville, California.

Mr Tillman, who lived above the premises, was killed on 25 June.

Mr Sharkey, originally from Blackburn in Lancashire, was arrested after he went to police to say he had witnessed the crime.

He faces charges of murder in the first degree and abuse of an elder.

He appeared in court on Monday and was remanded in custody at Sonoma County jail until a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

If convicted, the charges carry a sentence of life with the possibility of parole after 26 years, Sonoma's deputy district attorney Traci Carrillo said.

Ms Carrillo said her records indicated that Sharkey had been living in the US since at least 1996, but no mention was made in court documents as to where in the UK he came from.

A second man, American Garry Allen Scott, 56, has been charged with being an accessory to the crime.