Son not guilty of murdering his dad after putting him in a headlock during row
A man has been found not guilty of murdering his dad as his family applauded in the court’s public gallery.
Joseph McGowan, 20, was accused of murdering his dad Darren after an argument at their home in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in April.
But after a week-long trial the jury found him not guilty of murder and an alternate offence of manslaughter.
In the early hours of April 30, Joseph ‘lost his temper’ during an argument with his father and put Darren in a chokehold or ‘headlock’.
He phoned 999 and told them his dad ‘wasn’t breathing’, before telling police officers who attended: ‘Me and my dad were arguing and I don’t know what to do. We were fighting and I choked my dad out.’
After he was acquitted, Joseph’s family, who remained supportive throughout the trial, jumped to their feet and applauded as the judge told him he was free to leave.
Prosecutor Owen Edwards KC told the trial at Manchester crown court: ‘We do not say that Joseph McGowan intended to kill his father. What we say is that he lost his temper and meant to really hurt him.
‘We say he knew his father was drunk and in poor health and that he intended the serious harm that resulted from his choking action.’
Mr Edwards said that in 2022, Darren suffered from an aneurysm shortly before his business ‘failed’ and he began ‘drinking too much’.
The prosecutor said the marriage struggled, with the couple separating over short periods at a time. ‘Most of the time, it seems, he got on well with Joseph McGowan,’ Mr Edwards said.
Two weeks before the fatal incident, Joseph McGowan got into a row with his dad, who ‘goaded’ him by calling him a ‘p****’. Joseph hit him, causing him to fall and hit his head against a windowsill resulting in a head wound.
On April 30 this year, Darren’s wife Angela and three of her colleagues returned home from the pub where they continued drinking, along with Darren. At one stage Joseph McGowan came downstairs to join them.
During the evening one of the revellers was sick and left early before Angela went upstairs and got changed into her dressing gown, Mr Edwards continued.
‘Darren McGowan was telling her she was drunk and embarrassing and she responded: “it’s my f****** house”, before Joseph McGowan ushered her upstairs,’ Mr Edwards explained.
‘At 2.14am, Joseph McGowan took a video of the remaining members of the group, which included Darren McGowan. This was less than an hour before Darren had been fatally injured by his son.’
Prosecutors allege that Darren went to check on Angela upstairs before stating that it was time for everybody to leave, at which Joseph responded that it ‘wasn’t his house’, before an argument ensued, with one of the remaining group briefly intervening.
The two remaining members of the group then left the house, leaving Joseph and Darren together – and Joseph made the 999 call about 15 minutes later.
Darren was rushed to hospital but was declared dead on May 3 due to an ‘unsurvivable brain injury’.
A post mortem report concluded the bruising was consistent with compression of the neck by headlock or chokehold, and his cause of death was recorded as a brain injury caused by cardiac arrest.
Giving evidence, Joseph said the pair had briefly fought upstairs before he got into a row with his mum downstairs.
Hearing the noise, Darren came downstairs and shouted ‘don’t talk to my wife like that,’ at his son.
Joseph said: ‘I told him to f*** off. That was when he rugby tackled me onto the sofa.
‘I grabbed onto the closest thing. I grabbed him in a headlock because he is a larger man than me. I was scared.’
Joseph said his dad then lifted him up and ‘smashed him’ into the sofa twice, before he collapsed on the living room floor. Realising his dad was unconscious, Joseph said he called 999 immediately.
He had earlier broken down in tears when asked to describe their relationship.
Joseph told the court: ‘I loved him. We trained together. If my friends didn’t want to go out I would ask my dad. We were just a normal family. We enjoyed spending time together.’
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