Jury starts deliberations in trial of man accused of murdering 22-year-old Walsall FC fan
A jury has started its deliberations in the trial of a man charged with murdering a 22-year-old Walsall FC fan in a fight in Blackpool.
Paul Atherton, from Knowsley Crescent in Thornton, is accused of murdering "bubbly" Ryan Harvey in a Blackpool resort in June 2022.
Officers from Lancashire Police were called to Central Drive at 5.33pm on Saturday, June 25, 2022, following reports of people fighting.
When they arrived, they found Ryan with a serious head injury. The 22-year-old from Walsall was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment but he was pronounced dead three days later.
A post mortem concluded that the cause of Ryan’s death was blunt force trauma to the head. Two days after his death, police charged two men with his murder.
Thomas Heaney, 32, of Cross Street in Fleetwood, was initially charged with murder but the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence and the charge was dropped.
In June this year, Heaney pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm in court as well as to an unrelated offence of robbery.
He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court to 30 months for robbery and 10 months consecutively for the assault.
This week, his co-defendant Paul Atherton, 36, of Knowsley Crescent in Thornton, has been standing trial charged with murder, Section 18 Wounding, Section 47 Wounding, two Section 39 Assaults, and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
At 2.30pm yesterday, the jury at Preston Crown Court retired to consider their verdict.
Paying tribute, Ryan's family said after his death: "A family has lost their little boy due to an incident that happened in Blackpool. Our little Ryan was a bubbly lad who would do anything for anyone.
"Ryan was a lifelong Walsall FC fan who lived and breathed football. We are absolutely heartbroken and would appreciate some privacy at this time to grieve for our loss."
A fundraiser raised more than £13,000 for Ryan's funeral, with donations from The Tap and Tanner pub in Walsall, the Registry Pub in Walsall, the Wolverhampton Tumbler Club, and Walsall FC player Ronan Maher.
