A man who was accused of killing a friend during a hotel room row has been acquitted of manslaughter.
Liam O'Brien, 37, from West Derby, had been staying in a Bury hotel room with Craig Fitzpatrick, 33. Mr Fitzpatrick had agreed to give Mr O'Brien a lift to a two-day course on installing flooring.
The two later got into a row after their hotel room was damaged, before which Mr Fitzpatrick was allegedly seen in the corridor, wearing only shorts and "swaying around" with two fire extinguishers. Mr Fitzpatrick had dropped Mr O'Brien off for the course and allegedly went back to the hotel, before complaining about his room key not working.
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He was given a new key and during the day he had a conversation with a friend about allegedly having the hallucinogenic drug DMT and allegedly having half a bottle of gin in his room.
He went back to reception later asking for a new room key and appeared ‘intoxicated', Minshull Street Crown Court heard, reports the Manchester Evening News . Later, hotel staff allegedly saw Mr Fitzpatrick in the corridor, shirtless and 'swaying around' with a fire extinguisher in each hand.
Staff attended his room and found that the TV had been ripped off the wall and the wall sockets had been cracked. When Mr O’Brien got back to the hotel room at around 4.50pm, on January 13, he was 'clearly surprised and angry' at the state of the room, prosecutors said.
Mr O'Brien said: “What the f*** has he done to my room…he’s a cheeky c***,” and apologised to the staff, jurors heard. Mr Fitzpatrick was allegedly found asleep on the shower tray in the room.
"What the f*** are you doing, what have you done?," asked Mr O'Brien. There was a scuffle and Mr O’Brien allegedly punched Mr Fitzpatrick, after which he ‘slumped’ against the wall and slid down. Mr O’Brien left the hotel. He later attended by appointment at Bury police station.
He told police that he believed Mr Fitzpatrick was going to hit him after waking him up in the hotel room, so punched him to the face once with each hand. He said he didn’t intend to hurt him, and said that he panicked after leaving the room. Mr O'Brien called his girlfriend and got a taxi.
Mr Fitzpatrick died on January 16. A post mortem examination found he died after suffering a brain injury 'most commonly caused by a blow or blows to the head'.
Mr O’Brien, of Leyfield Road, Liverpool, denied manslaughter and said he was acting in self defence. He was acquitted by a jury.
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