Luke Harden: Two people, aged 26 and 27, charged with murder after the death of 'respected' model, 37

Luke Harden, 37, died on Newchurch Road in the town shortly after midnight on Saturday (November 1) and his cause of death still remains "unascertained", Lancashire Police said.

Bhekisani Matabiswana, 26, of St James Street, Bacup, and Natalie Chadwick, 27, of Hamerton Green in the town, have been charged and were due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates Court today (Wednesday November 5).

Police officers on patrol at 12.35am on Saturday came across paramedics giving CPR to Luke on the pavement. Despite their best efforts Luke was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.

Police said: "A Home Office post mortem examination took place on Sunday and Luke's cause of death is currently unascertained, awaiting further enquiries and examination."

Luke’s family previously paid tribute to him. They said: “There are no words to describe how devastated we all are. We wish our Luke could see the outpouring of love from everyone who knows him. He is and will always be special to us all, as a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle, boyfriend and friend.

“You will be forever in our hearts and minds, and we are comforted knowing we can shut our eyes and your beautiful face will always be smiling back at us. Rest in peace, our gorgeous Luke, until we will meet again.”

Manchester-based Nemesis Model Agency also wrote a tribute to him online. “It’s with great sadness that we must announce the untimely death of one of our favourite models. ⁠⁠Luke had been a model with Nemesis since 2013 and he was loved by everyone who met him and respected by everyone who worked with him,” they wrote.

Det Chief Insp Bryony Midgley said: “A man has lost his life and first and foremost my thoughts remain with Luke’s loved ones at this extremely distressing time. I have a dedicated team of officers working around the clock to establish the exact circumstances which led to Luke's death.

He added: ““I would like to thank the people of Bacup for the information and footage they have provided so far. However, we are still asking for anyone who has information that would help our investigation to come forward. We are particularly keen to hear from any witnesses or anyone with dashcam or doorbell footage covering the area between 11.45pm and 12.35am to come forward. We also want to hear from anyone who was in the Rosemount Working Men’s Club on Friday night.”

Email [email protected] or contact 101 and quote log 50 of November 1.