A MAN accused of manslaughter took to the stand to give evidence in court today.
Paul Thomas Ince, aged 31, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham is accused of the manslaughter of John Ithell, 59, in Caia Park on June 12, 2023.
Mr Ithell was found unresponsive on Cefn Road. He was taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where he later died.
The prosecution's case is that Ince punched Mr Ithell, which caused injuries that led to his death, Ince denies punching him, instead stating that he pushed him.
At Mold Crown Court on Tuesday (October 14), Ince took to the stand to give evidence.
Ince stated that the Pont Wen estate was "quiet" when he arrived at Carl Brown's address at around 1am on June 12.
He told the court that when in Mr Brown's flat, he could hear "someone being loud outside, shouting".
Ince said that after hearing the shouting, "we made our way downstairs".
Ince told the court that the shouting was still going on after opening the door and Mr Ithell was "shouting something for drugs" and was "irate".
Ince said he didn't use all his force when pushing Mr Ithell, and that he wasn't being "malicious", he "just wanted him to go".
He added that he didn't intend to push Mr Ithell into the fence, but that he hit the fence, slid down onto his bum and ended up on his back.
Ince said that he thinks Mr Ithell's head hit the fence because of “the way I pushed him and the way he went into the fence".
Ince said that Mr Ithell didn't lose consciousness, nor was he knocked out, adding that Mr Ithell had a "little cut" to his left eyebrow that was bleeding "a little bit".
Duncan Bould, defending, told the court that just after 5pm on June 13, Mr Brown sent Ince a message saying "I f***ing love you. You can’t let me take the wrap for this. I ain't doing a stretch for something I haven’t done”.
Ince said "I can’t remember" when asked what that meant.
Mr Bould referred to a message from Laura Brown, Mr Brown's sister, to Ince, saying: "Carl’s been nicked. You're the one who hit the lad, go hand yourself in”.
Ince was asked by Mr Bould about google searches on his tablet from June 14, in which he searched "how long can you get for manslaughter?" and "can you get bail on a murder charge?".
When asked why he made those searches, Ince said that he was going to hand himself in and wanted to know about it.
During cross-examination, Mark Connor, prosecuting, told Ince he believed his account of the events were "inconsistent".
He added that what Ince said in his defence statement is different to what he told the jury.
Ince said that he can't remember exactly due to it being two years ago.
"I’m dyslexic, so things get muddled up," added Ince.
Mr Connor said: "You're telling lies about what happened.
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"I am saying you are a liar about this and that’s why you can’t get your story straight."
Mr Connor added: "The truth is you came out of that house angry and you lost it didn’t you.
"You lost it for those few moments and you took it out on a 59-year-old, vulnerable drug addict because he annoyed you.
"You felt morally superior to him. You decided you were going to punch him and he flew backwards with real force after you punched him to left side of face and eye area.
"He hit that fence and then he hit the concrete path, that’s what happened isn’t it.
"And the back of his head hit the ground and it fractured his skull and that led to a bleed on his brain.
"And you're responsible for that aren’t you Mr Ince."
The trial continues.
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