A MAN who killed his sex offender uncle who abused him as a child has had a murder charge against him dropped.

Kevin Caddick has been on trial for three days before a guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was accepted.

The married father-of-five, who waived his right to anonymity as a victim of sex abuse, will be sentenced later tomorrow.

Prosecutors said two psychiatrists were to give conflicting evidence on Caddick’s mental state at the time, but both now agreed this had caused him to lose control.

The change came after the mother of victim John Mathers admitted either she or her son said something to Caddick when he called at her home.

When Mathers - formerly known as Harry Oldfield - said he had been to prison for the abuse, Caddick believed the 51-year-old was trying to justify the abuse he suffered at his hands.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 35-year-old “saw red”, lost control, and launched an attack – kicking and punching his uncle.

His victim was left with serious injuries including a fractured jaw and ribs and an “unsurvivable” brain bleed in the November 12 assault.

Today, prosecutor Mark Giuliani told jurors that the Crown could no longer ask them to convict Caddick, from Middlesbrough, of murder.

On the direction of Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, the jury found him not guilty of murder and guilty of manslaughter.

Caddick, formerly of Carisbrooke Avenue, Thorntree, was remanded in custody until tomorrow by the judge.

He had denied going to the house in nearby Fulbeck Road, to assault his uncle, and said he was in the area to visit his daughter.

Caddick told police he had cut through the Netherfields estate, and coincidentally saw Mathers staring from a window.

The jury previously heard that Mathers, who was jailed for three years in 2012 for sex offences, was visiting his mother at the time.

Caddick said he had not seen his uncle since the year before he was jailed and the chance sighting caused painful memories to come flooding back.

Mathers abused him at least four times between 1986 and 1987 when he was five or six-years-old, the jury heard.

He went into the house and is said to have asked Mathers: “Why did you do that to me when I was a kid?” before launching into the ten-minute assault.

The jury heard that after his arrest, Caddick told police - who had been waiting for him at his home: “I’ve batted him all over, he deserved it. I hope he’s dead.”

His wife Elizabeth testified that her husband had struggled to deal with the abuse he suffered as a young boy.

“He just couldn’t cope with what Harry did to him, she said.

The court previously heard from Mathers’ mother who said Caddick was completely calm prior to the attack, but then flew into a rage after saying: “You know what you did.”

Mathers was rushed to hospital and put into intensive care after surgery. He never regained consciousness and died six weeks later.