A dad with a bipolar disorder died in hospital two years after he was punched during a row, an inquest heard. Paul Stewart, 53, never regained consciousness after he was hit by his neighbour's boyfriend who said he acted in self-defence. Mr Stewart, from Prestwich, suffered the devastating injury on his son's 20th birthday in May 2017 and remained in hospital in a 'minimally conscious state' until his death in June 2019.
Now a coroner, who criticised the evidence of the man who inflicted the injury as well as the police investigation, has recorded an open verdict following an inquest, finding there was not enough evidence to support an unlawful killing conclusion. Mr Stewart's distraught family described their devastating five-year ordeal and said: "We will never know what truly happened." Paul, a joiner, had not been able to work since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition which led to his admission to a psychiatric hospital under the Mental Health Act on several occasions, the inquest was told.
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His family told Rochdale Coroners' Court the condition made Paul reclusive on some occasions and 'manic and elated' on others. The inquest heard about a row between Paul near his home on Leach Street and Richard Garrick, the boyfriend of Paul's next-door neighbour Jenny Boardman, on May 17, 2017.
Mr Stewart was taken to hospital with a serious head injury but never recovered - he died at The Priory Highbank, a brain injury clinic in Bury, on June 4, 2019. The inquest heard he was never able to give police an account of what happened on the night of the argument.
Senior North Manchester Coroner Joanne Kearsley ruled the 2017 police investigation into the incident was 'lacking' and that 'investigative opportunities were lost', in particular text messages between Ms Boardman and Mr Garrick. A forensic pathologist, Dr Charles Wilson, examined Mr Stewart when he was still alive at Salford Royal Hospital, and found an abrasion to his chin and other injuries which he said were consistent with him being punched in the face and then hitting his head on the ground.
The pathologist also noted a bruise on a knuckle which he said was consistent with Mr Stewart punching someone. Following his death two years later, the same pathologist recorded the cause of death as pneumonia with 'chronic neuro-disability' and 'head injury' listed as key contributory factors.
Dr Wilson told the inquest Mr Stewart would not have died had it not been for the head injury. The inquest heard that in the month before his injury, Mr Stewart started to pay more attention towards Jenny Boardman who told the court she got the feeling he 'fancied her' but that she didn't appreciate sexualised comments he was said to have made towards her.
Ms Boardman was said to have sent a series of texts to Mr Garrick stating 'he’s going too far now', 'he’s just being too much' and 'It’s just not appropriate'. The inquest heard Mr Garrick responded on one occasion: "I don’t want strangers knocking on your door that makes me cross don’t worry it will stop as of this weekend I promise that much… I’m cross your being made to feel uncomfortable in your own home."
Three nights before he suffered his injury, the inquest heard that Ms Boardman, Mr Garrick and others had got drunk and then returned to her house prior to another alleged altercation with neighbour Mr Stewart. The court heard that the following day Ms Boardman texted to Mr Garrick: "Please don’t ever hit anyone unless you get attacked because if he had got really hurt you would be in trouble and if you went to prison over a f***ing gimp it would be awful and I really don’t want you to get in trouble please baby don’t do anything else.” Garrick told the inquest he 'could not recall who he had interpreted this message to be pertaining to', according to the coroner's findings.
The coroner said the evidence provided by Mr Garrick, Ms Boardman, her mother Susan and sister Katie about that evening, on May 14, was 'not wholly credible'. Ms Kearsley, however, ruled that 'at the very least both Katie Boardman and Richard Garrick shouted and directed abuse in the direction of Paul Stewart's property'.
The inquest heard that following the incident which led to Mr Stewart's fatal injury on May 17, 2017, Mr Garrick told a 999 operator: "He’s threatened to attack me, threatened to cut my throat and then he’s took a swing at me. I’ve had to defend myself. He’s now lay on the floor unconscious... he’s just come out threatening me. We don’t have much to do with him, he’s a bit of a recluse."
Mr Garrick added: "He's followed me down the road threatening to cut my throat and all sorts of rubbish and he’s thrown punches at me. I’ve told him to go away on three occasions. He chose to ignore that and I’ve hit him to defend myself because he’s been swinging punches at me and trying to grab and kicking my dog."
In his police interview, the inquest heard he told officers: "He’s walking towards me with a bit of a pace and he’s, his words to me were ‘alright d**k’. I looked at him, I was a bit confused. He comes flying towards me, he tells me how he's gonna cut my throat and cut my son's throat. Now I don’t have children so I thought that was also weird. I tell him on three occasions, three occasions pretty much straight after each other go away, go home, go away Paul.
"He pays no attention to that, he swings a punch at me which strikes me on the shoulder and glances onto my chin. He then hits me again which catches me on the side. He then grabs me with both his arms." He said he acted in self-defence and that Mr Stewart hit his head on the floor when he fell.
In his evidence to the inquest, Mr Garrick said he threw two punches, one which landed on his shoulder and which bounced onto Mr Stewart's chin and a second which struck his arm pit area. He alleged Mr Stewart had been armed with a drill bit or a six-inch nail, a claim the coroner noted he had not made in any of his previous accounts.
In her concluding remarks, the coroner said: "I cannot accept Richard Garrick’s evidence as a full and reliable account of what took place." Ms Kearsley said she could not on the evidence conclude the death had been the result of a lawful or unlawful killing and instead recorded an open verdict.
The coroner noted: "On the 17th May 2017 the deceased was involved in an altercation during which he received a blow to the chin and fell backwards sustaining catastrophic head injuries. As a result of the injuries he sustained, the deceased was left in a minimally conscious state and died at the Priory Highbank on the 4th June 2019."
After the hearing, Elaine Stewart, one of Paul’s sisters said: "Almost five years ago Paul’s life effectively ended when he was knocked unconscious on his son’s 20th birthday by a single devastating punch and never recovered. Thus began the start of a five-year ordeal for his son, sisters, brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews culminating in this inquest.
"For two years prior to his death, we had to witness him lying in a minimally conscious state: unable to see, speak, move or feed himself. Whilst we are relieved that this traumatic ordeal is over, we are still left with unanswered questions and must accept that we will never know what truly happened. Paul never had the chance to tell his side of the story."
The family's solicitor Hugh Potter said: "Only Mr Garrick knows precisely why he punched Paul Stewart. The punch had a devastating effect. His family has consistently challenged Mr Garrick’s insistence that he did so lawfully, out of self-defence.
"The family is delighted that the senior coroner having heard and considered all the evidence considered Mr Garrick’s evidence as lacking credibility. It is a matter for Greater Manchester Police as to whether any further action is taken against Mr Garrick and anyone else."
