Ammonia was used in attack at The Bay Horse pub
Aug 11 2010 by Kim Carmichael, The Journal
A TOXIC chemical was used as a weapon in the moments before a man's tragic death, a court was told.
Christopher McGuire left The Bay Horse in Dinnington, near Newcastle, to find Michael Francis threatening his cousin, Robert Robson. But when Mr McGuire tried to intervene, he was punched to the ground and, it is claimed, Francis directed an associate to spray ammonia.
Mr Robson, who was in his car with his heavily-pregnant girlfriend, put his foot down to escape the violent scene, not realising his cousin was still on the ground in front of his car.
Mr McGuire, 33, died from injuries caused by the car running over him and prosecutors say Francis was to blame for creating the circumstances in which the accident happened and is therefore guilty of manslaughter.
Mr McGuire’s uncle Kevin Robson and his friend Michael Denney were both squirted with the substance during the fracas, Newcastle Crown Court heard. Mr Denney, a 43-year-old builder, said: “At first I thought I’d been stabbed in the eye.
“I saw something coming into my eye and felt liquid, which I thought was blood.”
And he added: “I could smell a strong odour like ammonia or peroxide.”
Mr Denney was taken to Newcastle General Hospital where he was treated for burns to his eyeball and upper and lower eyelids. He was admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary the next morning for further treatment.
Dr Zoe Johnson, consultant ophthalmologist at Newcastle’s RVI, told the court the attack had left Mr Denney with scar tissue in his left eye and his visual acuity, or clearness of vision, had been reduced.
The court was told there had been a feud between Francis and Mr Robson which culminated in the incident on March 15 this year.
Mr Robson had agreed to give his uncle, cousin and their friend a lift from the Bay Horse to Newcastle city centre and was waiting outside the pub in his Vauxhall Astra when trouble broke out.
Kevin Robson, who the court heard was hit with ammonia on his arm, told the jury: “Francis punched Chris and he fell to the ground. I got round and he shouted ‘spray them’.”
Francis, 20, of Stocksfield Avenue, Fenham, Newcastle, denies manslaughter, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of ammonia and affray.
