Man Cleared of Manslaughter of Stephen Ritchie

Slapped dying Brentford man in face as he lay on ground

Brandon Thompson, aged 21, has been cleared of the manslaughter of Stephen Ritchie from Brentford at the Old Bailey.

Thompson admitted sitting astride Stephen Ritchie and slapping his face after he had been punched to the ground by Darren Forwood. Forwood has been jailed after admitting manslaughter.

Thompson claimed that after Forwood had punched Stephen Ritchie he had grabbed onto his shoulder as he was falling. When he fell on top of him he slapped him twice on the left cheek. Only then did he notice that Stephen's eyes had rolled back in his head and he was unresponsive. The post mortem showed that the original blow by Forwood had been so powerful that it had ruptured arteries in the dead man's neck.

The incident occurred at a Sunday league football match on Sunday 30th November. Stephen had just taken part in a game of football when, following the final whistle, he became involved in an altercation with members of the opposing team including Thompson and Forwood. He was playing for Old Greenfordians in a match against Kinghill Town. Old Greenfordians had come back from 3-0 down to win the game 4-3.

August 19, 2009