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Two Wirral men admit manslaughter

3:18pm Wednesday 18th April 2007

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TWO Wirral men accused of murdering a man who was pushed from his first floor window have admitted killing him.

Tony McComb and John Morrison had been due to face trial but today, Wednesday, changed their guilty plea to manslaughter was instead accepted by the prosecution.

Mr Justice Silber warned them they will face substantial custodial sentences.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 46-year-old Kevin Evans lived in a first floor flat in Beech Court, Birkenhead and at the time of the tragedy last September had two friends staying with him.

On September 9, another friend of Mr Evans, David Dillon, was assaulted by McComb, who accused him of damaging his car. He left the scene in Laurel Road, Birkenhead, but returned with another friend and confronted McComb.

Morrison, the brother of McComb's partner, arrived and Mr Dillon left and went to Mr Evans' nearby home. He later left and Mr Evans' two friends subsequently went out but were attacked on the stairwell by McComb, Harrison and another man, who wanted to know where Mr Dillon was.

The couple escaped and the trio went to Mr Evans' flat and inside he was struck suffering bruising to his right eye and bridge of his nose and furniture was damaged, said Charles Chruszcz, QC, prosecuting.

"He was so terrified by the three that he tried to get out of a window in his flat. He was pushed from behind and fell to the ground below," he said.

A friend heard his screams and found him at the rear of the flats in Victoria Road lying with an obviously broken leg. McComb, Harrison and the third man were standing close by but they left when an ambulance arrived.

The victim told police he had been pushed through a window at his home but refused to say anything else. At Arrowe Park Hospital he told friends the three men had threatened and beaten him and he had been pushed out of the window. They threw ornaments and video cases out of the window at him.

He had landed on his feet and suffered fractures to his right ankle and foot and underwent surgery that night. At 10.40 am the next day he stopped breathing and a subsequent post mortem examination revealed he had suffered a pulmonary embolism following the fractures, said Mr Chruszcz.

McComb and Morrison were both arrested and denied being in the flat that day. Morrison said he had been there a few months earlier to complain about his behaviour.

His palm print was found on the window frame through which Mr Evans fell and he said he must have opened the window on the earlier visit.

McComb, 36, of Laurel Road, Tranmere and Morrison, 39, of Harrowby Road, Tranmere, were both further remanded in custody to await sentence on May 3.

Allegations of wounding with intent, aggravated burglary and affray were ordered to lie on the file.


Your Say YourWirral Globe

brenda, Birkenhead says...
11:10pm Fri 27 Apr 07

This is a memeber public who has admitted to manslaughter, he and his family have been through a lot for it to have come to this. He has been terrorised for may years, the alleged innocent victim!! had stolen his childrens bikes from outside his garage and wrecked his cars with scrathes over many months. Not to mention selling drugs and terrorising the community for many years. Thhis guy who has died; died from miss adventure; from living the life he led, jumping from windows when the going got tough; drug free people who lived in the area have lived a life of misery due to the guy who died. you peole out there who think justice is fair then you all need to live in my area.

jemma, says...
11:46pm Fri 27 Apr 07

Evans is not the victim, he terrorised the Mccomb family for many years, not to mention the community in which they lived in. The mccomb family have been put though **** by this man. He was no pillar of the community, he stole the childrens bikes and sold them, verbally abused mccomb his wife and children, was a known drug abuser. Mccomb has admitted to manslaughter. Evans didnt deserve to die but he was not murdered. When enough is enough ask yourselves what would you do to protect your family??

Julie, Birkenhead says...
8:28pm Sat 28 Apr 07

Once again the british legal system lets down the innocent and projects the local drug users of Birkenhead, the two men concerned have had to endure several years of **** from the likes of Mr Evans who was known by everyone in that area to be a local drug dealer and user not to mention an alcaholic, along with his so called friends David Dillon and David Rooke who along with Evans terrorised Mr McCombs young family and his partner, police where called to several incidents did they do anything? NO! they bravely told Mr McComb and family that the best thing to do was to stay out of the way of those people. Those people namely Dillon,Rooke and Evans where the very same people who would leave their needles lying around for the kids to find, damaged Mr McCombs partners car by scratching it everytime they went past it, shouting obsenities in the face of his then 6 year old daughter, threatening to burn the house down, kill their pets, is it any wonder that with 1 more burst of provocation Mr McComb retalliated and hit Dillon, who by the way admitted to the police that it was him who struck the first blow and not in fact Mr McComb. Mr Morrison was then along with Mr McComb protecting his family when he got involved with the scuffle with Dillon.
I would like to point out that both the alleged defendants presented a plea due to offers being made through the prosecution service and if the reporter that was in the court was listening correctly both defendants made statements to the judge that it was neither of them who touched Evans, relating to the third man that the police have always said was their! On Dillons own admission HE was in the flat of Evans at the time. Maybe the third man that nobody seems to know about but suddenly became the police main witness, one has to wonder as to the extent of Mr Dillons actual input to that day and why he was so quick to point the finger on the men that had earlier had an altercation with him.
I agree that it is unfortunate that somebody died from that day but his death resulted from problems related to the injury caused by him JUMPING from his window as he regularly did when the drug squad were busting his house or rival dealers. His misuse of drugs was a major factor in his death.
It would appear that anyone trying to ensure a safe life for their children can only do so if they are prepared to turn the other cheek when the dealing of drugs and other such obseneties are occuring in your area.
Mr McComb and Mr Morrison where trying to protect their family as i believe any caring parent who had been subjected to the torment that they endured would do.
All they ever wanted was to go about their business like any other person without this on their doorstep everyday.
So before you sit there in your nice homes in your nice areas and criticise Mr Morrison and Mr McComb for protecting the ones they love please try and imagine owning your house in an area that once was pleasant to live in, being happy then suddenly having it all downgraded by the likes of these people, no its not an illness they have a choice to be drug users but why do they have to make everyone elses life around them ****, and for the most remember that they where picking on children, thats the sort of people they where.

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