A man has admitted causing a serious skull injury suffered by an attack victim, but he claims it was only through a “forcible push” that the complainant went to ground.

Liam North is accused of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH) on the victim, who suffered a fracture to the base of the skull arising from the incident in Shildon, dating back more than 19 months.

Durham Crown Court was told that the victim, a 49-year-old man, has since died from unrelated causes.

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The 26-year-old defendant, of Maple Avenue, Shildon, denied the GBH charge when he appeared at a plea hearing at the court, on November 7, last year.

He was due to stand trial in a hearing scheduled to start on April 15.

But the case came back before the court yesterday (Wednesday, March 20) listed “for plea”.

The charge was put to the defendant again, and, this time, he pleaded guilty.

His counsel, Benjamin Bell, told the court the guilty plea was made on the basis that it was a push, “quite a forcible push”, that caused the victim to fall to the ground.

Judge Jo Kidd said the formal basis would have to be submitted to the court for the prosecution to assess if it is considered “acceptable”.

The Northern Echo:

Martin Towers, for the prosecution, said it was a case where there have been a number of different accounts given from various witnesses.

But he said he hoped a decision on the basis of plea could be given in the next week.

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Judge Kidd said the case should come back before the court on Thursday next week (March 28) when the prosecution can inform the court if the basis is accepted, or not.

She said if the basis is agreed she could proceed to sentence, but if it is not accepted then a trial of issue (Newton hearing) would be staged to resolve the basis on which the defendant will be sentenced.

Judge Kidd bailed North to return to court on March 28 but warned him there may be a trial of issue to follow.