Man accused of killing denies 'playing dumb to pull wool over jury's eyes'

A MAN accused of manslaughter insisted yesterday he only pushed his alleged victim and did not punch him or act maliciously.

- By DAVID POWELL Daily Post Reporter

Paul Ince claimed John Ithell had been on his phone after the push and that calling an ambulance would have been a "waste" of time.

But the prosecutor, in cross-examination, accused Ince of being a liar. Prosecutor Mark Connor alleged Ince was "playing dumb" and was "trying to pull the wool over the jury's eyes".

Ince, 34, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham, is on trial at Mold Crown Court. He denies the manslaughter of Mr Ithell in June 2023.

The jury of six men and six women has heard Mr Ithell had been found in a bush by cyclists the following morning. Paramedics took him to Wrexham Maelor Hospital but he died there some four and a half hours after the alleged assault.

Yesterday, Ince took to the witness box in his defence. He told Duncan Bould, defending, that he had been with a friend to Llangollen on Sunday, June 11, 2023. They returned and went to The Greyhound pub in Wrexham.

He said at The Greyhound he drank five double vodkas with lemonade, "cider and a couple of beers". Around midnight, they went to Carl Brown's first-floor flat in Pont Wen.

In the kitchen, Ince said he heard shouting outside from someone who was "a bit irate". But he couldn't tell what it was about.