We'll never forgive the drinking mate who killed our dad

The grieving family of Army veteran Paul Ainscough say they will never forgive the drinking mate who took his life in a booze-fuelled row.

- by Matthew Calderbank

As Liam Slack began a four-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of the former Regimental Sergeant Major in the beer garden of a Leyland pub, relatives said they had been "destroyed as a family" by the drunken act which caused his death.

A judge was told the two men had been drinking all day when Slack pushed Mr Ainscough in an argument over a pack of chicken wings.

The ex-soldier fell onto a planter causing severe internal injuries. He was found unresponsive at his home in Hollinshead Street, Chorley 48 hours later.

Slack, 34, pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court saying he had not meant to seriously harm a man who had been his friend for many years.

In court a victim impact statement by son Mark Ainscough, on behalf of the family, described the victim as "our hero".

He said: “Our world fell apart on June 24. The dynamics of our family changed for ever.

“My dad was taken away in the most cruel and violent way far too soon. Losing him destroyed us all as a family. He was a brave soldier, loving husband, father and grandfather.

“What he (Slack) did was unforgiveable.”