Dabs.com founder David Atherton has appeared in court charged with attempted rape, cocaine possession, false imprisonment and making threats to kill.

As reported by the Manchester Evening News earlier today, Atherton appeared before magistrates earlier this week and is scheduled to appear at Bolton Crown Court on 31 October .

The charges relate to allegations made to police by a woman after they were called to an address in Bolton on the afternoon of 17 August.

No plea was entered and Atherton has been remanded in custody. The entrepreneur launched mail order company Dabs Direct in 1990 which re-branded as dabs.com in 1999.

The Bolton-based online reseller was sold to BT two years ago in a deal worth about £30m. Dabs has a yearly turnover of about £200m but Atherton is no longer part of the business.