Homeless campers deny bashing murder

Two itinerant men accused of bashing a 48-year-old man as the pair camped alongside Perth's Swan River have pleaded not guilty to his murder.

Mark Taylor and Peter Thompson were initially charged with grievous bodily harm after they allegedly confronted and assaulted Bullsbrook man Warren Gerard Batchelor at Middle Swan Reserve in West Swan on November 17.

But the victim died in hospital two days after the attack and on Wednesday, the charge was upgraded to murder.

Taylor and Thompson appeared in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court via video link from Hakea Prison and pleaded not guilty.

The pair face an eight-day trial starting on August 11.

After the men were initially charged on November 18, police alleged they used weapons, including a metal pole, during the attack.