BBC TV director cleared of manslaughter after retired teacher pushed to his death
A BBC TV director has been found not guilty of killing a retired grammar school teacher during a fight over Welsh independence.
Hywel Williams, 40, was accused of killing Peter Ormerod, 75, outside a pub in Burry Port, Carmathenshire, Wales, on September 24 2022.
Mr Williams pushed Mr Ormerod to the ground, causing him to hit his head. He died in hospital four days later from an unsurvivable brain injury, Swansea Crown Court heard.
Mr Williams denied manslaughter and insisted he felt ‘scared’ and ‘threatened’ when the granddad ‘came at him’.
The TV director – who now works as a director for Welsh language soap opera Pobol Y Cwm – said he was on his phone, and instinctively pushed Mr Ormerod away from him.
The prosecution position was that the defendant did not need to use any physical force at all and that he lost his temper.
In another clip shown to the jury, CCTV from inside the pub showed the two men in animated conversation before they left the pub separately.
Mr Williams said he was fed up with the row over Welsh politics which angered Mr Ormerod.
He said he told Mr Ormerod: ‘I don’t have time for this mate* I don’t want any of this.’
Mr Williams said Mr Ormerod replied: ‘Don’t you ever speak to me like that again. How dare you speak to me like that.’
Mr Williams said the two men swore at each other before he pushed Mr Ormerod to the floor in self-defence.
He said: ‘I felt scared and pushed him.’
He said he hadn’t meant to hurt Mr Ormerod, but just to push him away.
Mr Williams admitted pushing Mr Ormerod when he contacted the police and the ambulance service.
‘I did everything I could to help him,’ he told the court.
Releasing Mr Williams from the dock, the judge described the case as ‘terribly terribly sad’ and offered his condolences to Mr Ormerod’s family.
In a tribute, Mr Ormerod’s family said: ‘Peter was a well-respected teacher and member of the community a very loved and loving father, grandfather, brother and friend.’
The judge thanked jurors for the care they had taken in their deliberations.
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