Metrolink-contracted worker accused of killing man tells jury he thought he was 'trying it on'

A Metrolink-contracted worker accused of unlawfully killing a man under restraint has told a court that he ‘didn’t believe’ his pleas that he could not breathe.

Jack Barnes, 28, was chased through Manchester city centre for nine minutes by four public transport workers before being pinned face down on Deansgate for another nine minutes.

A jury has been told that he struggled while being restrained and pleaded five times ‘I can’t breathe’ - but it was only after one of the men threatened to ‘put him to sleep’ and he lost consciousness that he was rolled onto his back.

Mr Barnes, who had been taking Spice with his companions, had suffered a cardiac arrest and although paramedics resuscitated him he died several weeks later in hospital.

Paul Fogarty, 51, of Monks Lane, Bolton, is on trial alongside Stephen Rowlands, 68, of Wearish Lane, Westhoughton, Matthew Sellers, 30, of Heathfield Road, Bury, and Brian Gartside, 50, of Lime Grove, Ramsbottom, over the incident on October 11, 2016, They all deny manslaughter.

Mr Fogarty told Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday (February 11) that while he was holding one of Mr Barnes’s arms as he lay prone outside the Australasia Bar, he heard him saying he could not breathe.

Asked by Philip Barnes, junior prosecuting counsel, why he had not helped roll him onto his back or side he replied: “I didn’t believe he couldn’t breathe.”

Mr Fogarty, 51, and his colleagues, had chased Jack Barnes and his associate, Craig Nevet, after an incident at Victoria railway station where there was a confrontation following him earlier having allegedly assaulted another Metrolink worker.

“Did you ignore him because you were taking revenge for what was done at Victoria Station?” the prosecutor Mr Barnes asked