THE father of a teenager accused of chasing a former Huddersfield man to his death told a court his son mentioned manslaughter when asked about the incident.

Mark Nichols was giving evidence at the trial of his son Jamie Nichols who, with Caleb Coleman and Wayne Lee, is accused of the manslaughter of Berry Brow man Francis Conway.

Mr Conway, 33, died after being hit by a recovery truck on a Bradford road on June 22 last year.

It is alleged that Jamie Nichols, 18, Coleman, 21, and Lee, 22, chased him with a pickaxe handle. They are appearing at Bradford Crown Court charged with manslaughter, which they all deny.

Mark Nichols said his son got upset when he told him to get up and go to the police station to give a statement on July 23 last year.

He told the court: “Jamie started to get upset and to cry. I brushed his tears back and smiled at him.

“Jamie then said: “manslaughter”.

“I just sat there in amazement.

“I then asked Jamie what he meant. He then said: “You remember that lad who got run over on Canal Road?”

“I asked “by a wagon?” and Jamie said “yes”.

“I asked him if he was one of the four men (involved). Jamie answered “No, there was just two of us”.”

He went on to tell the court that Jamie told him he and Lee saw Francis Conway, known as Frank, setting fire to a post box and chased him.

Shortly after the 15-minute conversation Mr Nichols Snr phoned the police to say his son would not attend the station. Jamie Nichols was later arrested in connection with the incident.

Under cross-examination, Mr Nichols Snr denied making the story up linking Wayne Lee to the crime because he disliked the Lee family.

The jury of four women and eight men then heard from Dc Clive Hawkins of West Yorkshire Police who conducted the initial interviews with co-accused Caleb Coleman.

In the interviews the defendant said he was not in the area at the time of the incident last year.

He said he was high on drugs but would have still remembered being there.

Coleman also said during the police interviews that Wayne Lee was a “fruitcake” and that he did neither liked him nor knew him that well.

He also denied being in Lee’s black Renault Clio on the night in question.

Earlier in the trial the jury heard that Mr Conway was spotted looking agitated in the hours before his death and was looking at a nearby black car on Canal Road containing three or four men.

Hours later the former Kings James’s Grammar School pupil was hit by a truck as he allegedly fled the three men.

The trial continues.