Man jailed for manslaughter

Aaron Ward

A man has been jailed for the manslaughter of a man living in Rochdale.

Aaron Ward (26/10/1983) of Burton Street, Middleton pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a previous hearing and today, Monday 3 September 2012, he was sentenced to nine years at Manchester Crown Court.

On Thursday 2 February 2012, Ward and 31-year-old Edward Worton had been drinking in a number of pubs in the Middleton area.

Later that evening, they went back to a house on Lower Bamford Close and continued to drink with friends until the early hours of Friday morning.

A taxi was called and Ward and Edward waited outside before an argument started and both went back into the house.

Later that morning, Ward’s friend phoned him to see what had happened between him and Edward and he admitted he had hit him at the back of the head.

Ward later sent a text to his friend saying he thought he had killed Edward before the incident was reported to police.

At around 1.45pm, officers attended Lower Bamford Close and found the body of Edward inside.

A post-mortem revealed he had died from serious head injuries.

Senior Investigating Officer Andy Tattersall from the Major Investigation Team said: “It seems Mr Worton needlessly lost his life following a petty argument with Ward. Ward will now have to face up to the consequences of what happened that night and live with it for the rest of his life.

“Edward’s loved ones have not been able to get over their loss and he has left behind a young family and a huge gap to fill.”