Cheshire man found guilty of manslaughter following 'jealous' killing
Daniel Griffiths repeatedly beat his victim with a baseball bat
A man from Audlem has been found guilty of killing a man who he believed was 'chatting up' his partner.
Daniel Griffiths repeatedly beat Andrew Guy with a baseball bat shortly after he had sent his partner the text message ‘on way babe, 10 mins’.
After the attack, at 43-year-old Griffith’s property on Stafford Street in Audlem, Andrew returned to his mother’s home in Buerton.
Throughout the night Andrew, aged 54, was in significant pain and the following morning his body was found by his mother.
On Wednesday 4 May a jury found Griffiths guilty of Andrew’s manslaughter following a 15-day trial at Chester Crown Court.
He is due to be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday 11 May.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon from Cheshire Police said: “Andrew died an agonising and slow death due to extensive internal bleeding after being struck numerous times from Griffiths hitting him with what we believe was a baseball bat.
“While we may never know exactly why Andrew was attacked by Griffiths we believe the reason was closer to home than over bringing drugs to the address and because he wrongly thought Andrew was romantically interested in his girlfriend.
“Since Andrew died it has been a difficult time for his mother and his family and friends and our thoughts have been with them since he passed away.
“We have worked incredibly hard to ensure that we were able to find his killer and to be able to give him and his family the justice they deserve.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the investigation that has led us to where we are today including key witnesses and members of the public who came forward with information as well as the investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Following the guilty verdict Andrew’s family have paid tribute to him: “While it doesn’t ease the pain we’ve been caused by Andrew’s senseless death, we are grateful for the guilty verdict today. Andrew did not deserve to die the way he did, and the trauma of it has left its mark on all of us.
“We would like to thank all of the people who bravely came forward to offer help and information to the police and also those who came to court to give evidence so that the person responsible for Andrew’s death could be brought to justice.
“We would also like to thank Cheshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service for all of their hard work. Especially Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon, Detective Sergeant Paul Nolan and the rest of their team. The work of the detectives is an honour to Andrew’s memory. The support of the family liaison officers Tom and Sarah and victim support officer Helen has helped us navigate this extremely difficult time and we could not have coped without them.
“Andrew was a dear son, brother, uncle and father and we will miss him terribly. We would like to ask that we now be allowed to grieve in private and come to terms with our future without him.”