‘Blunt force injury was primary factor’ in death of man assaulted in Welshpool

But Dr Stephen Leadbeatter told the trial of Martin Slezak at Caernarfon Crown Court that other issues were also part of the cause of Young John Mongan's death.

Slezak denies murder and manslaughter in Welshpool town centre on Sunday, June 28.

Dr Leadbeatter described Mr Mongan's injuries as the jury viewed computer-generated images of Mr Mongan's head.

Dr Leadbeatter described various blunt force injuries to the forehead, eyebrow, right cheek, eye lids and lower lip, as well as a black eye and bleeding on the whites of the eye. He also said Mr Mongan suffered fractures to his nose.

He said internally there were bruises in the deep soft tissues at the back of the head, which he conceded may have been caused by Mr Mongan falling backwards and hitting the ground, under cross examination.

Dr Leadbeatter said there was bruising to the muscles at each side of the head, blood and froth in the voice box and windpipe but no injury and scarring at the back left of the heart as well as some rib fractures, likely from attempts to save Mr Mongan.

He said the provisional cause of death initially ascribed was blunt force injury to the face or head with further investigations to follow. He later updated it to blunt force injury in a man with scarring of the heart who had taken alcohol.

Dr Leadbeatter said: "When one sees injuries to the face while one does not see fracture to the bones of the skull, nor any actual bleeding into or around the brain, the absence of that bleeding does not mean that injury to the brain has not occurred.

"But given what one saw in the CCTV, and the fact there appears to have been no recovery from going to the ground, then one can not ignore injury from the face being an operative factor in the death."

He said some investigations from cardiologist show a family history of coronary artery disease, and raised concerns that angina may have caused a poor supply of blood to the heart.

But he said: "The primary factor here is the blunt injury to the head and disturbance of brain function and obstruction to airwave getting to the heart that is perhaps already in jeopardy because there is a scar there which may have contributed to an arrhythmia."

Under cross examination Dr Leadbeatter said he did not have any objective means to determine the level of force used.

He said: “It is a puzzling case in that one would like to be able to say clearly what has brought about death, one can't do that in all cases.”

Earlier the manager of a Welshpool kebab shop told the court the deceased man and his friend were the aggressors in a confrontation when they were in the shop.

Buse Kucukkose, the manager of Best Kebab, said she has worked there for about four years and there were two staff there on the night of Saturday, June 27.

She said "man 1" was drunk as he wasn't able to balance himself, and he was with John Anthony Mongan, who was also "a little bit intoxicated", but less so. He ordered food on behalf of the other man.

"I remember he was a bit rude to me, I asked him first if he wanted any sauce or salad, he said no and then when I started to deal with other customers he asked for lemon juice and onions. I told him to wait and he got a bit angry."

She said Slezak and Liam Gzik, who was with him, ordered two wraps.

Ms Kucukkose said there was an incident involving food dropping on Mr Gzik's leg and he complained to Mr Mongan. She said she did not remember his response.

She confirmed Mr Mongan and JA Mongan then left the shop, while Slezak and Mr Gzik stayed inside as they attempted to make a bank transfer to pay for their food.

She said JA Mongan returned to the shop and was talking to the duo inside.

She said JA Mongan then began trying to attack Mr Gzik.

She said Slezak was in a "defence position", lifting his arms "to protect his friend".

Ms Kucukkose said she was "really afraid", and told the men to leave.

She said JA Mongan went outside afterwards and only Mr Gzik stayed inside.

She said: "The last time I saw they were outside and he [Slezak] was hurting the deceased man."

She said he was punching him, but she did not know how many times. She saw Mr Mongan on the floor, but he was not reacting.

Ms Kucukkose said she then tried to find her phone to call the police. Slezak, she said, "looked like he lost control" and was "angrily shouting".

He and Mr Gzik disappeared immediately after the fight, she said.

Under cross examination by defence barrister Michael Hayton KC Ms Kucukkose said Young John Mongan, from Walsall, appeared to be the most drunk of the four men, and that Mr Mongan and JA Mongan were more aggressive than Slezak.

She said Mr Gzik was "very calm" when the food was spilled on him.

When Mr Hayton asked whether, while they sorted payments, Slezak and Mr Gzik stayed in the shop because they were frightened, Ms Kucukkose replied: "Yes. I didn't realise at that time. I realised later on better.

Mr Hayter asked if Slezak had been trying to calm things down in the shop, whether the other men had been the aggressors, and whether JA Mongan had lunged towards the two Polish men. She confirmed all three matters.

Ms Kucukkose added: "That's right, they [Slezak and Mr Gzik] did apologise before the bigger fight, saying 'we didn't want to cause any trouble in your shop, we didn't want this, apologies'."

The court also heard statements from members of the public who came across the incident including Thomas Pike, who used to work with Slezak and said he looked panicked and had blood on his t-shirt and face. He said as he approached Mr Mongan lying in the road he could see blood gushing out of his head and his friend put him in the recovery position.

Marie Jones had been for a drink with her partner when she saw the commotion.

She said she saw blood all over Mr Mongan's face and he was coughing and spluttering blood. They tried to put him in the recovery position to clear his airway. She said as she went to check his pulse in his neck she could see a “lump line” across the back of his head. She said there was a woman sitting on the kerb shouting “come on John, fight John”.

On-call firefighter Gawaine Rolinson, who was on a night out to celebrate his daughter's birthday, helped with moving the crowd around Mr Mongan. He said CPR was “constantly under way”.

Hubert Melchior said he had been friends with Slezak for years but they fell out during Covid. But on the night of the incident he was in town at pubs and he was told Slezak had been involved in a fight and then that the male may have died.

At around 4.18am back at home Mr Melchior messaged Slezak and then video messaged him on Facebook. He said: “I remember saying something like ‘what have you done’ and ‘what’s happened’ and he said ‘I had a fight and I punched someone’.”

Mr Melchior said: “I think I said you have killed someone.”

Slezak asked what he should do and Mr Melchior suggested he tell his mother what had happened.

The trial continues.