Conway family weep with relief at manslaughter verdict

Oct 16 2008 by Joanne Douglas, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE family of Huddersfield man Francis Conway wept with relief as three men were found guilty of his manslaughter.

The 33-year-old Berry Brow man was chased to his death by three men armed with a pickaxe handle on June 22 last year.

He was hit by a recovery truck as he fled the gang and later died of severe head injuries.

His family and friends – from Huddersfield and Flockton – went to the two-week trial at Bradford Crown Court and cried when the foreman of the jury announced guilty verdicts for Caleb Coleman, 21, Wayne Lee, 22, and Jamie Nichols, 18, yesterday.

The three showed no emotion as each guilty verdict was announced.

Mr Conway, known to family and friends as Frank, was a former pupil of King James’s School at Almondbury and lived in Berry Brow until he moved to Bradford to be closer to his young son.

Mr Conway’s younger brother, Kieran, along with sisters Katrina and Sarah and their parents Michael Conway and Carol England, said the tragedy had made them closer than ever.