Man guilty of killing Tipton drinker in pub fight

Dominic Fraser has been found guilty of murdering Kevin Hadley inside The Lounge Bar, Tipton, leaving footprint marks across the 30-year-old's face.

Mr Hadley Jnr and his father, also called Kevin Hadley, were among a crowd of football fans who had gathered at the bar ahead of England's World Cup qualifying game against Poland on October 16, which was called off due to heavy rain.

Speaking after Fraser was convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Mr Hadley's mother described her son as a pillar of support who visited her almost every day.

She said: "The day Kevin died was my eldest son's birthday and the day of Kevin's funeral coincided with my wedding anniversary. They were once happy days but now they will just be a reminder of losing our son.

"It's impossible to think of life without him…I am broken and can never be the person I was before and my family will never be the same."

Fraser, aged 32, from Highfield Road, Tipton, will now be sentenced at a separate hearing, expected to be next week.

Speaking after the unanimous decision, Judge John Warner told Fraser: "It's life imprisonment, the only issue is how long you spend in custody before you are released."

During the trial, the jury heard violence flared in the pub on October 16.

Mr Hadley, who was 30, and his father, both from Slater Street in West Bromwich, had been drinking in Tipton and West Bromwich before the incident, and by the time they reached The Lounge Bar they had consumed 10 pints of beer. An argument then started between Mr Hadley and a friend of Fraser's.

Mr Hadley Jnr was described as acting aggressively – his self-control "blurred by alcohol" – when he squared up to a group of men playing pool.

Mr Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, said Kevin Hadley Jnr, 29, was responsible for starting this trouble.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the violence that ensued involving a number of people in the bar, in which Kevin Hadley Jnr was hit with a pool cue by 24-year-old Shazad Ali, from Tudor Street in Tipton. It also showed another man stamping on him when he was on the floor.

The stamps left shoeprints on Mr Hadley's face, which detectives forensically matched to a trainer worn by Fraser.

Fraser, from Highfield Road in Tipton, claimed he was acting to protect himself.

Four other men have already been convicted of offences in connection with the same incident.

Shazad Ali, 25 from Tudor Street, Tipton, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Hadley at an earlier hearing. Roy Cross, 30, from Powis Avenue, Tipton, has admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Kevin Hadley senior, and to attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent.

Sadaqut Ali, 32, from Madeley Road, Kingswinford, has pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and Hafizur Rahman, 30, from Tudor Street, Tipton, pleaded guilty to using threatening words or behaviour.