The death of a Bury dad who suffered fatal injuries on a night out was a "tragedy", "needless" and "not of his own making", a judge has said.

Piotr Ludwiczak, 35, died after suffering serious head injuries following a night out on Silver Street in Bury town centre in the early hours of July 8 last year.

Mr Ludwiczak, from Poland, who lived with his partner and had a young son, had tried to intervene in "growing trouble" on the street among a group of revellers who had left Hops bar after it had closed. 

Yesterday, Thursday, Brook Marshall-Byrne, 20, was found not guilty of Mr Ludwiczak's manslaughter following a trial at Manchester Crown Court, which began on Monday, May 20. 

While Marshall-Byrne admitted punching Mr Ludwiczak, which caused him to fall onto the pavement and hit his head, he argued he had acted in self-defence. 

Marhall-Byrne had also been on trial accused of affray and the assault of a 17-year-old boy on the same evening.

Returning to court on Friday, the jury of nine men and three women found him guilty of one count of affray, but failed to deliver a verdict on the assault charge. 

Bury Times: The scene after the incident on Silver Street, in July last yearThe scene after the incident on Silver Street, in July last year (Image: NQ)

Earlier in the trial, Paul Treble, defending, told the court that Marshall-Byrne had acted in self-defence following provocation by the 17-year-old boy who he described as being "intent on violence".

He argued Marshall Byrne had acting in self-defence in relation to all three charges.

At the trial's conclusion, Judge Nicholas Arthur Dean said the jury's verdict of not guilty in relation to manslaughter did not suggest that Mr Ludwiczak had any culpability in the violence which occurred. 

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He said: "[Mr Ludwiczak] was totally innocent of any wrongdoing, his death was a tragedy. 

"All he was trying to do was calm things down. 

"It is clear that so far as he was involved, he was involved only to calm others, including the defendant, to calm things down, to stop violence happening. 

"His needless death is a tragedy and not of his own making in any way shape or form." 

Marshall-Byrne, of Prestwich Hills, is set to be sentenced for affray at a hearing on July 19.