'You are not guilty of his death, but you are responsible for it'

A judge blasted a ‘boxer’ who punched a dad during a brawl in Bury town centre leading to his death, telling him: “You are not guilty of his death - but you are responsible for it.”

Piotr Ludwiczak, 35, died after being hit by Brook Marshall-Byrne, before falling to the ground and hitting his head in Bury town centre.

Marshall-Byrne was found not guilty of manslaughter after maintaining that he had acted in self defence. The pair had both separately been on nights out with friends when the horrific incident occurred in the early hours.

READ MORE: The full story of a child's murder as boys tried to 'play the hard man'

Prosecutors claimed that Mr Ludwiczak was trying to protect a teenager allegedly being attacked by Marshall-Byrne, when he was said to have been punched to the head with ‘tremendous force’.

Marshall-Byrne told the jury that he was acting in self-defence. He said that Mr Ludwiczak had held him in a ‘bear hug’ after the earlier incident and said he ‘couldn’t breathe’.

Marshall-Byrne, 20, was found not guilty of manslaughter after jurors spent two days deliberating following a trial at Manchester Crown Court. He was found guilty of affray in relation to events that night, but jurors could not agree on a further charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH). Prosecutors have not sought a re-trial in relation to the ABH offence.

The court heard that during the investigation into the altercation in July 2023, police found CCTV footage of a separate fight in the same area on Silver Street between another group and a group involving Marshall-Byrne.

In footage played to Manchester Crown Court, the 20-year-old appeared to run away from the initial incident before attacking a man from the opposing group as