Two men charged with murder following death of Walsall man in Blackpool
22-year-old Ryan Harvey died of a head injury earlier this week.
Last updated 1st Jul 2022
A man's due in court this morning after being charged with the murder of a man from Walsall.
32-year-old Thomas Heaney is accused of killing 22-year-old Ryan David Harvey from Walsall, following an incident in Blackpool last weekend.
He was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment but he never recovered and was sadly pronounced deceased on Tuesday morning (June 28).
A post-mortem examination concluded that the cause of Ryan’s death was blunt head trauma.
In a tribute, Ryan’s family said:
“A family has lost their little boy due to an incident that happened on Saturday in Blackpool. Our little Ryan was a bubbly lad who would do anything for anyone. Ryan was a lifelong Walsall FC fan who lived and breathed football. We are absolutely heartbroken and would appreciate some privacy at this time to grieve for our loss.”
A 36-year-old man was arrested on Saturday at the scene. Paul Atherton, from Knowsley Crescent, Thornton Cleveleys, has since been charged with Section 18 Wounding, Section 47 Wounding, two Section 39 Assaults and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
The Crown Prosecution Service have also authorised a new charge of murder for Atherton.
He appeared before Blackpool magistrates on Monday and was remanded into custody.
Temporary Det Chief Insp Rach Higson, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said:
“A young man has lost his life following this incident and my thoughts remain with Ryan’s family and friends at this time.
“While we have now charged two people in connection with our investigation our enquiries are very much ongoing. I am really grateful to everyone who has helped with our investigation up to now and I would continue to appeal to anyone who has any information to come forward and contact us.
“I would ask anybody with information or CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage which could assist our enquiries to come forward as soon as possible.
“This happened on a busy street in the middle of the day where there were lots of people and traffic around.”
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