Man admits '˜Baggo's' manslaughter

A Wigan man has admitting causing fatal injuries to another man in a Hindley pub.
Nicholas Sullivan, known as BaggoNicholas Sullivan, known as Baggo
Nicholas Sullivan, known as Baggo

Craig Cropper, 29, denied the murder of Nicholas Sullivan but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which was accepted by the prosecution.

The 51-year-old victim, known by the nickname ‘Baggo’, died on January 20 this year after the assault in the Georgia Brown pub in Market Street.

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Liverpool Crown Court heard that Mr Sullivan died from head injuries he suffered after being knocked to the ground and which left him unconscious.

Nicholas Johnson, QC, said that reports from a pathologist and neuro-patholgist have now become available and in the light of those reports the Crown considered his plea to unlawful killing was appropriate.

“This case involved a fight in a public house where a number of blows were delivered to the deceased,” he told the court.

Mr Johnson said some of the incident was caught on CCTV and in light of the footage and the reports the Crown can prove at least two of these blows landed. The cause of death relates to head injuries resulting from the fall.

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“It was a two punch manslaughter in the context of further violence that evening.”

Accepting the prosecution’s views Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, said, “Nothing indicates despite his considerable size that he intended from the punches alone to cause serious injury or death.”

Cropper, of Arundel Street, Hindley, has been further remanded in custody to await sentence next month.

Judge Goldstone, the Recorder of Liverpool, told Cropper, that the question for the court about the sentence on his return would be “how long, not if. A substantial sentence will follow be under no doubt.”

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After the assault the victim, a father-of-two daughters, was given first aid at the scene before being rushed to hospital, where he sadly died. Cards left with flowers at the scene expressed “heartfelt sympathy”, and hailed the victim as a “legend”.

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