Lee Welch and Jason Dance jailed after wrench attack death

Lee Welch and Jason Dance

Lee Welch and Jason Dance have been jailed after a man was attacked with a wrench and later died.

Welch (02/07/1975), of Moss Mill Street, Rochdale pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to section 18 assault.

Dance (24/04/1973), of Kenyon Lane, Middleton pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to assisting an offender

They were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court Crown Square on Tuesday (4 November).

Welch was sentenced to seven years and three months and Dance was sentenced to one year and three months.

On 10 April 2015 Welch got involved in an altercation with 40-year-old Anthony Griffin, at a house in Rochdale, which resulted in Welsh hitting Anthony over the head a number of times with a wrench.

Later that day, Anthony was taken to hospital where he was treated for a head injury. He was released from hospital on 1 May 2015.

On Monday 4 May 2015 Anthony was found collapsed on the landing at a house on Cheap Side in Rochdale. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Later that day Welch was arrested on suspicion of section 18 assault and Dance was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

A post-mortem established that Anthony had died from a pulmonary embolism that was not linked to the assault.

During the investigation, police established that Dance had disposed of the wrench in Rochdale canal, before it was recovered by police.

Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe said: "Here we see another case of senseless violence. Welch and Dance thought they had gotten away with the attack, even trying to dispose of the wrench, but justice caught up with them."