Dad died after single punch, court is told
ADAD was killed following a single punch thrown during a row outside a takeaway, a court heard.
Keith Maden, 59, hit his head on the ground and suffered a ‘catastrophic’ injury following an incident outside Dixy Chicken on Yorkshire Street, Rochdale, on September 28 last year. He later died in hospital.
Jafar Ali, 20, denies manslaughter. He claims he was threatened, called a ‘P***’ and acted in selfdefence.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Mr Ali told police he thought Mr Maden was going to ‘rip [his] head off’ and ‘impulsively’ hit him.
Jurors heard that Mr Ali told officers: “I gave him the lightest punch I’ve ever given anyone in my life.”
A witness told the court it was a ‘forceful, swinging punch’.
Another witness was said to have heard the defendant say ‘you deserved that’ to Mr Maden.
Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, said that Mr Ali accepted he punched Mr Maden, but says he did so in self-defence ‘in response to Mr Maden’s violent and threatening conduct’.
Mr Bassano said Mr Maden had been ‘argumentative’, but said that he never used or threatened violence.
Mr Maden had consumed only two drinks that night, according to a barmaid at The Reed Hotel on Yorkshire Street, the court was told.
She had known him 20 years and regarded him as a ‘polite, quiet man, who did not cause trouble’, the prosecution said. ●●Jafar Ali (inset left) denies the manslaughter of Keith Maden (inset right) following an incident outside the Dixy Chicken takeaway on Yorkshire Street in September last year
Mr Maden suffered a stroke in 2016, which had left him unsteady on his feet and he sometimes slurred his speech, said Mr Bassano.
When he was arrested, the jurors were told the defendant said Mr Maden was drunk and aggressive and had threatened to headbutt him.
Mr Ali, of Church Stile, Rochdale, was said to have told police Mr Maden had pushed him, adding: “I don’t even punch. “I’m not a violent person... literally it was on impulse. “I thought this guy was gonna rip my head off.”
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