Jack Barnes: Mum welcomes charges over Metrolink restraint death

Jack Barnes suffered a cardiac arrest and died weeks later in hospital

The mother of a man who died after allegedly being restrained by tram staff has welcomed manslaughter charges against four men.

Jack Barnes, who was 29 and from Hull, died two months after the incident on Manchester's Metrolink in October 2016.

Stephen Rowlands, 67, Brian Gartside, 59, Paul Fogarty, 50, and Matthew Sellers, 29, will face charges.

Mr Barnes's mother, Patricia Grayson, said she was glad to see charges after "two years of legal fighting".

The father-of-one died on 2 December, several weeks after the incident in Manchester city centre outside Victoria Station on 11 October.

Following an inquest in March 2021, senior coroner for Manchester, Nigel Meadows, ruled the death was an unlawful killing and stated the restraint "more than minimally, trivially or negligibly contributed to the cardiac arrest".

On Thursday, Rosemary Ainslie, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the four men charged "were staff members subcontracted by Metrolink at the time" and they had been charged with unlawful act manslaughter.

'Right decision'

Mrs Grayson said the charges demonstrated "why you should never give up".

"We were told on two occasions, before and then after the inquest into Jack's death, that these men would not be facing criminal charges," she said.

"It has taken two years of legal fighting for this."

She added that she was grateful to her legal team "for not giving up on the case and for fighting to ensure the circumstances leading to Jack's death will now come under the full scrutiny of the criminal courts, as always should have been the case".

Solicitor Neil Hudgell, who represents Mrs Grayson, said he was pleased the CPS had "eventually come to this decision with regards to criminal charges being brought against these four men".

"It is something we have had to fight hard for over the past two years on behalf of Jack's family, with two separate CPS reviews being conducted into the case over that time," he said.

"We have believed all along that this case should reach the criminal courts for a trial to consider whether a crime was committed.

"It is the right decision."

Mr Rowlands, from Bolton, Mr Gartside, from Rochdale, Mr Fogarty, from Bolton, and Mr Sellers, from Bury, will appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on a date yet to be fixed.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]