Staffordshire man jailed for Blackpool manslaughter

A man has been jailed for the manslaughter of George Fenlon in Blackpool last year.

Rhys Jones, 27, from Cannock, Staffordshire, was staying in Blackpool for a few days and went on a night out in the resort with his friend on 14 August 2023.

In the early hours of 15 August, George Fenlon, 23, from Blackpool was also out with friends. Jones met a girl and was trying to convince her to abandon her boyfriend and go with him. Mr Fenlon came across Jones arguing with the boyfriend in an alleyway on The Strand.

Very brief words were exchanged between Jones and Mr Fenlon before Jones squared up to him. 

He threw several punches which caused Mr Fenlon to fall to the floor twice, but he quickly got back to his feet, before Jones delivered a final punch which proved to be the fatal blow. 

Mr Fenlon was unconscious as he fell to the floor and hit his head, resulting in an injury so serious that he would not recover.

Jones clapped his hands together and left the scene. He took a taxi back to his hotel before returning to his home in Staffordshire.

Paramedics attended shortly after 2am when it was clear that Mr Fenlon's injuries were an immediate threat to his life, and he was taken to Royal Preston Hospital. 

Despite numerous surgeries and the best efforts of the medical team looking after him, he died on 22 November 2023 – just over three months after being assaulted.

A postmortem concluded that the cause of death was directly due to the complications of the blunt head trauma he had suffered during the assault.

Jones was initially arrested in September on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. 

He answered "no comment" when interviewed by police the following day and was charged and remanded into custody. Following Mr Fenlon's death, Jones was further charged with murder.

In June 2024 Jones offered a guilty plea to an alternative charge of manslaughter. 

Following a full review of the evidence, the Crown agreed that although Jones attacked Mr Fenlon without provocation, he had not intended to kill Mr Fenlon or cause him really serious harm and the guilty plea to the manslaughter of Mr Fenlon was accepted.

Today he has been sentenced at Preston Crown Court to 10 years and two months' imprisonment.

Joanne Close, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: "I would like to offer my sincere condolences to George Fenlon's family and friends, who have lost a much-loved man to senseless violence.

"Rhys Jones carried out an unprovoked attack upon an innocent stranger in the street. He then fled the scene and returned home with no thought to the devastating consequences of his actions.

"George Fenlon has been deprived of the ability to support his partner in bringing up their baby daughter, who will grow up without her father in her life."