Maltby murder trial: Accused "intent on causing damage"

Closing the prosecution case against Adam Goodridge, who is accused of killing Paul Dyson, prosecutor Mr Andrew O’Byrne said Goodridge had a grudge against the victim and had set out to do him harm.

Goodridge's barrister had earlier claimed there was a “break in the chain” between assault and death as Mr Dyson was not "compliant with his dialysis treatment".

 Mr Andrew O’Byrne, prosecuting, said a pathologist had given the cause of death as “head injury post traumatic seizures”.

He said Mr Dyson’s doctor had told the court that although he hadn’t had his full allocation of dialysis just before his death, the amount of blood dialysed was sufficient.

“Death was a direct consequence of the assault that took place on October 30,” said the prosecutor.

He said Goodridge had gone to Mr Dyson’s home intent on causing him damage.

Mr O’Byrne said Goodridge had a grudge against the victim due to a dispute between Mr Dyson and his landlord Terry Wakelin — a friend of Goodridge’s — and had taken matters into his own hands.

“That was despite his own acknowledgement his intervention wasn't helping,” said Mr O’Byrne.

“He became some sort of self-appointed enforcer.”

Goodridge, of Huntington Way, Maltby, admits assaulting Mr Dyson but denies murder.

Earlier, jurors at Sheffield Crown Court were told if they were not sure the assault on the disabled man was a “significant contributing cause of death” then his attacker must be found not guilty.

In her closing speech, Ms Siobhan Grey, QC, for Goodridge, argued there was a “break in the chain” between assault and death.

Ms Grey said the two blows Goodridge claims he struck Mr Dyson in his Littlehey Home on October 30 last year had not knocked the man unconscious and paramedics called to the home had said he was alert.

The barrister claimed Mr Dyson’s underlying health conditions, including chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal failure, had impacted upon the victim’s heart and bones.

She added: “He was also not compliant with his dialysis treatment — rather than doing three to four hours he would do two hours and on one occasion he only dialysised for 23 minutes.”

Mr Dyson suffered three seizures in hospital after the assault and a fatal cardiac arrest on November 4.

Ms Grey said: “His (Mr Dyson’s) pre-existing heart disease could have been another explanation for his cardiac arrest — he had had two in 2010 linked to his dialysis.

“His high potassium levels could have led to his cardiac arrest.

“The pathologist accepted it was a possibility his cardiac arrest had been independent of the consequences of the assault.”

She added: “A significant number of medical witnesses expressed opinion as to what they think occurred.

“They simply can’t exclude the possibility there was in fact a break in causation.

“And so while the assault may have caused the bleeding on the brain which in turn led to seizures, there remains a possibility seizures didn't cause cardiac arrest.”

The trial continues.