Four Manchester tram workers accused of the manslaughter of a father of one are to go on trial next year
Paul Fogarty aged 50 of Bolton,Stephen Rowlands aged 67 of Westhoughton Matthew Sellers afed 29 of Bury and Brian Gartside aged 59 of Whitworth all pleaded not guilty to the charge and have been bailed until their trial set to begin in January 2025 in Liverpool
Rowlands also denied perverting the course of justice by allegedly providing a false witness statement to Greater Manchester Police.
Jack Barnes died in December 2016 following an incident in Manchester city centre two months previously when the father-of-one was restrained by the four at a tram stop.
The 29 year old from Hull, was held by four “customer service representatives” who were monitoring anti-social behaviour
At an inquest in March 2021, HM Senior Coroner for Manchester Nigel Meadows ruled the death was an unlawful killing and stated the restraint “more than minimally, trivially or negligibly contributed to the cardiac arrest”.
