GUILTY: Bouncer who struck Formby man found guilty of Manslaughter

Jurors deliver a unanimous verdict after eight hours of deliberations.

A bouncer who struck Formby man, Scott Sheard, outside a Southport nightclub who later died after suffering brain injuries was found guilty of his manslaughter.

Stuart Humphreys (pictured above), 38, “made contact” with Scott Sheard during an altercation outside Destination Bar on October 17, 2009.

The incident left Mr Sheard suffering permanent brain damage and the 26-year-old, of Freshfield Road, Formby, died in January 2012.

Prosecutors said Humphreys, of Kingfield Road, Walton, “poleaxed” Mr Sheard with a punch.

But the doorman told Liverpool Crown Court he hit him with "the heel of his hand” because he believed Mr Sheard was about to punch him. Humphreys said Mr Sheard had tried to take bottles outside on three or four occasions. He said he asked him to leave them on a table, which “irritated him”.

He said Mr Sheard was “quite clearly drunk” and on the last occasion refused, so he took two bottles off him. He said: “I’ve sort of pushed him, ushered him backwards, which was my fault, I should have been more diligent, and as I’ve done that he’s stepped backwards off the step and stumbled.”

He told the jury there was a confrontation at around 5.45am, when Mr Sheard was “very angry”.

He said he clenched his fists and had to be held back by his friends, including Luke Rigby, who was also aggressive.

Humphreys said Mr Sheard wanted his bottles back or to return inside to drink them and he tried to apologise to Mr Rigby for pushing his friend off the step, which “wasn’t my intention”.

The bouncer said he decided not to allow him back inside as “it wouldn’t have ended well”.

He said: “I was threatened to be stabbed on a couple of occasions by them. I think that threat came three or four times.

“I think it could have been both, maybe it was just from one of them.”

Humphreys said he didn’t actually see a knife.

Nigel Power QC, defending, said: “What was said about a knife?”

He replied: “‘Why don’t you just get out of the f***ing way before I start cutting you, you f***ing p***k’, that sort of thing.”

Humphreys said things became “extremely heated”.

He said: “At that point I believed he was about to throw a punch at me.

“He was constantly shifting with his hands out of his pockets, clenching and making fists.

“He shifted his weight down onto his right leg, which I took to be he was about to throw a punch.”

He said Security Industry Authority guidelines recommended using an open palm strike rather than a clenched fist.

Humphreys said he had not intended or expected Mr Sheard to fall over.

He said he wanted to see if he was okay but did not call 999 or help him because others were doing so, and for him to get involved would have been “inflammatory”.

He said he told police he “slapped” Mr Sheard when in fact it was a palm strike because he wanted to make clear it was not a punch and that he was distressed and upset.

He said: “I didn’t expect and it certainly wasn’t my intention for him to be injured in any way “

Mr Power asked why he told police Mr Sheard had threatened to stab him but later said Mr Rigby had.

He said: “I’m not certain. It was coming that thick and fast.”

Humphreys denies manslaughter.

However after nearly eight hours of deliberations a jury found Stuart Humphreys unanimously guilty.

Mr Sheard's parents sobbed in the public galley as the verdict was returned.

Family photograph of Scott Sheard

Story and Photos Source: Southport Visiter