Parents' agony at son's killing in Dinnington

Aug 14 2010 by Sarah Scott, The Journal

THE parents of a man killed as a result of a petty feud have spoken of their devastation.

Christopher McGuire, 33, died when he was punched to the ground by Michael Francis, 19, and then accidently run over by his own cousin, Robert Robson, who was fleeing Francis.

Mr McGuire’s parents Liz and David have spoken from their family home in Ash Avenue, Dinnington, on the outskirts of Newcastle, of how the frantic effort made to save Christopher’s life failed.

Liz, 58, said: “The last time I saw Christopher, he was laid out in the hospital. I went in with his dad when they asked for permission to stop resuscitating him. We didn’t see him any more after that.”

She added: “I never got the chance to give him a hug or tell him how much I loved him.

“I don’t think any person can understand the pain we feel. Only a person who has lost a child can know.

“He was 33 but he was still my little boy, my baby.”

A jury at Newcastle Crown Court took less than three hours to convict Francis of manslaughter, grievous bodily harm, possession of ammonia and affray. He was given an eight-year jail sentence.

Francis, who had recently moved to Dinnington from Newcastle’s West End, had taken a dislike to Mr Robson after he believed Christopher’s cousin had given him a dirty look months before the tragedy took place.

When the two men ended up in the same pub in March this year, tragedy struck.

Mr Robson had gone to The Bay Horse in Dinnington to pick up Christopher and two others.

Francis started a row with Mr Robson and when Christopher came out of the pub, he stuck up for his cousin.

Francis knocked him to the floor, got an associate to spray the two other men with ammonia, then went to attack Mr Robson.

Sat in his car with his terrified eight-months pregnant girlfriend, Angela Lee, Mr Robson fled and, not realising his cousin was still lying on the road, drove over him, inflicting fatal injuries.

Christopher’s death shocked Dinnington.

“The day of the funeral, to see my two sons and Christopher’s friends carrying his coffin, it was just heartbreaking,” said Liz, a senior cleaner at Newcastle University.