Man admits manslaughter over head injuries death

A man has admitted unlawfully killing another man who suffered serious head injuries in Lincoln.

The body of Eddie Roberts, 55, was discovered in Carholme Road just after 23:00 GMT on 8 December 2024.

Max Skidmore, 37, of Lytton Street, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to manslaughter when he appeared at the city's Crown Court on Wednesday.

During the court hearing, Judge Simon Hirst was told there was a dispute over the circumstances of Mr Roberts' death and a further hearing, known as a "Newton hearing", would decide the facts of the case before the defendant was sentenced.

Prosecutor Sarah Knight said the dispute centred on whether Mr Roberts was either punched or slapped.

She confirmed there was evidence from one witness who described the 55-year-old being punched once.

However, his defence barrister Karen Walton said Skidmore maintained he had struck Mr Roberts with a forceful flat-handed slap rather than a punch to move him out of the way.

The two men were not previously known to each other, she confirmed.

"It was just a very sad and catastrophic incident in the street," said Ms Walton.

Adjourning the hearing until 14 March, Judge Hirst told Skidmore: "At this stage there may be a dispute between the prosecution and defence over if you either punched or slapped Mr Roberts.

"It is likely that it will make a difference to the sentence."

Full pathology results on the cause of Mr Roberts' death were expected to be available at the forthcoming hearing in March.

Skidmore was remanded back into custody until his next court appearance.

An inquest into Mr Roberts' death was opened and adjourned on Monday by Paul Smith, coroner for the area of Greater Lincolnshire.

Lincoln Coroner's Court heard a post-mortem examination was carried out the day after Mr Roberts' body was found and the medical cause of death is believed to be a head injury, further pending tests.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.