A MAN has been jailed for 14 years for the manslaughter of his vulnerable uncle earlier this year.
Liam Elms, 41, was last month cleared of murder but convicted of the manslaughter of 58-year-old Paul Lavery.
Police said Elms, who acted as his uncle’s carer, inflicted ‘appalling injuries’ on Mr Lavery, who died a week after the attack.
Incident
The incident occurred at a property on Eaton Road, West Derby, Merseyside in January of this year.
According to the Liverpool Echo, a witness told the court that Elms struck his uncle and threw him around ‘like a rag doll’ before dragging the barefoot man downstairs and leaving him outside.
Mr Lavery was found outside the property at around 1am on January 24 and was later determined to have suffered a serious head injury and a bleed on the brain.
Following treatment, he sadly passed away in hospital at the end of January.
Elms was arrested near the scene and was subsequently charged with attempted murder, which was later upgraded to murder following Mr Lavery’s death.
Last month, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court unanimously found Elms not guilty of murder but convicted him of the lesser count of manslaughter.
‘Critically injured’
After hie sentencing at the same court this week, a spokesperson for Merseyside Police said Elms had refused to admit what he had done.
“Paul Lavery was a vulnerable man in poor health, who was in the care of his nephew Liam Elms,” said Detective Inspector Daniel McWhinnie.
“However, in January, Elms inflicted appalling injuries on his uncle, and then left him outside in a critically injured state.
“Immediately after Paul Lavery was found, officers arrested Elms and found him to be in a highly aggressive and threatening state.
“He was arrested that night on suspicion of assault and the following day, rearrested in custody on suspicion of attempted murder.
“Sadly, Paul never regained consciousness, despite the best efforts of medical staff.
“I’d like to thank Paul’s family for their patience and bravery during this heart-breaking process, one made all the harder to bear by the refusal of Elms to admit what he had done.
“We hope that today’s outcome does at least provide some comfort and a sense of justice having been served.”