A CHILDHOOD friend of a Wrexham teen facing a manslaughter charge told a jury he was pushed over by a man who later died after being punched.

Philip Long, 36, and his wife Hayley, had been out celebrating their wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 3 last year. The happy couple had been walking arm in arm to go and get a taxi home at around 1.40am when they bumped into a group of teenagers on College Street, three of whom had become embroiled in an argument.

Although not involved in the argument himself, Adam Robinson, 19, a friend of Matthew Curtis since they were six-years-old, had both been trying to stop it.

Mr Robinson confirmed how both he and Curtis had been out in Wrexham town centre on the night in question, but how the group of six had left the Senso bar because two of their friends were arguing and causing a scene. The dispute spilled outside and then on to nearby College Street, and it went on for at least 30 minutes, by which time, Mr Long and his wife were walking past the group. One of the girls had been hitting a male and shouting at him.

Mr Robinson said how he heard, from behind, something along the lines of “pull that girl off that lad, it’s not fair for a girl to hit a lad like that” before he tried unsuccessfully to do so. Mr Robinson then described how he then turned around only to be pushed in the chest by Mr Long, which caused him to collide with an electricity utility box, before he landed on the floor.

He said that although he heard a punch being thrown, he did not see who threw it, but as he tried to get to his feet, Mr Long was on the floor, with his wife on top of him.

Mr Robinson said he had no recollection of any conversation taking place between Mr Long, Curtis and himself and denied that the pair colluded with each other in the immediate aftermath of the incident to concoct the story of him being pushed.

In summing up the case for the prosecution, John Philpotts said how the evidence heard during the trial very clearly pointed to the fact that Curtis had no justifiable reason to punch Mr Long. He told the jury how Mr Long had not been aggressive that night, and how CCTV had shown him arm in arm with his wife just two minutes before he was “blind-sided” by a punch that effectively lost his life.

He said: “Even if he had pushed Adam Robinson, which the prosecution say didn’t happened, it would not have justified the cowardly punch thrown by Mr Curtis.

“A punch that had been thrown from the side, which was forceful enough to knock him to the floor.”

Mr Philpotts said Curtis had “lied and lied and lied again” from the very beginning of the police investigation, saying it was clear he had known what he had done from the outset, and that is why he ran to get help and was seen on CCTV with his head in his hands.

He added: “He said he lied because he knew how the situation looked.

“The reality is, a tall, fit young man hit another man so hard he knocked him to the floor.

“This was a young couple out enjoying their anniversary. Mrs Long had pink champagne for the first time in her life. She had kept the bottle to keep as a momento of a memorable evening.

“However it turned into a memorable night for the most tragic of reasons.”

He said it was “absurd” for Curtis to suggest he had not intended to hurt Mr Long, despite the fact the punch was strong enough to knock him to the floor.

He concluded: “It was unlawful and highly dangerous and led to Philip Long’s death.”

Nicolas Williams, defending barrister for Curtis said Philip Long’s death should never have happened and that this was a “terribly, terribly sad case”. He said his client is fully aware that his punch had cost Mr Long his life and would have to live with that fact for the rest of his.

He said: “There are no winners in this case.

“I am sure that everyone involved in this case would very much like to turn the clocks back, Mr Curtis included.”

Mr Williams said his client had punched Mr Long because at the time, he believed he had been making a move to attack his friend Adam Robinson. He told the jury that if they believed Mr Long did nothing more than to say to the group, “what’s going on?” then they would have to find his client guilty.

However, he questioned the evidence provided by Hayley Long, which he said the prosecution was primarily, if not exclusively relying on. He said the incident she witnessed had been incredibly traumatic and would no doubt have had an impact on her recollection of what had happened.

He said: “Witnesses don’t see everything.

“People perceive things in different ways. Mrs Long, by her own admission, had an awful lot to drink that night. Could her recollection of events be wrong?”

He conceded that his client had lied to the police on two separate occasions, both on College Street in the immediate aftermath, and a couple of hours later at Wrexham police station, but urged the jury to be cautious about that fact.

He said: “People lie for all sorts of reasons. Some people panic.

“And let’s not forget, Mr Curtis had only turned 18 just a fortnight prior to the incident taking place.

“He ran to get help because he knew he’d hurt Mr Long. He said he didn’t know what to do and that he didn’t want to be taken away.

“It was described as a cowardly punch, but what did he do? He was the first to go and summon help. He also stayed at the scene and spoke to the police. He didn’t run away.

“Although he lied to them at the time, at just 3pm that afternoon, he provided police with a seven page prepared statement, admitting that he had punched Mr Long.”

Mr Williams said how it had been unfortunate that the CCTV had not captured the punch and if it had, how the trial would unlikely to be taking place. He said it was hard to judge the force that had been used because the punch had been thrown “immediately and instinctively” and that it had been done to stop Mr Long moving forwards, not to hurt him.

He went on to say that other factors, other than the force of the punch, had to be considered for causing Mr Long to fall to floor, including the fact he was standing on a sloping hill at the time and how he had been drinking, with a toxicology report revealing him to be two-and-a-half times over the drink drive limit.

The actions of Curtis, of Gwersyllt, had played a significant role in the death of Mr Long, but if there was a push, he said, then what followed had been reasonable and his client cannot be found criminally responsible.

The jury is expected to be sent out to consider its verdict on Thursday morning.