THE family of a man who died after being repeatedly punched have spoken of their fury after a manslaughter charge was dropped.

John Kiernan was punched in the face five times by 37-year-old Damien Walker.

But prosecution lawyers asked for the unlawful killing charge to be dropped after a neuro-pathologist said Mr Kiernan could have died from a 'violent sneeze' or a simple fall.

Judge Stuart Baker yesterday expressed his concern that the manslaughter decision was never put before a jury.

But he accepted the guilty plea to a new charge of assault causing actual bodily harm after a day of deliberation, much to the anger of Mr Kiernan’s family who had been in tears in the public gallery.

After the hearing, Mr Kiernan’s sister, Mary Balkwill, 47, said: "That's the wrong decision. My brother's lost his life.

"They said it could have been a sneeze. Well, it could have been a punch.

"He was covered in bruises from that attack.

"John always said he was a lover not a fighter. Anybody who knew him knows his lovely character.

"We will be writing to the Crown Prosecution Service and asking them to think again about this decision."

Another relative said: "I cannot believe the decision. We had our hopes built up.

"No-one was standing up for John. It is disgusting."

The application to drop the manslaughter charge at Preston Crown Court followed a review of the expert medical evidence which suggested Mr Kiernan, 38, from Stansfeld Street, Blackburn, had previously suffered a brain bleed and had been on medication to thin his blood because of a leg thrombosis.

A neuro-pathologist suggested that a simple fall without banging his head or a violent sneeze could have caused the re-bleed which led to his death on November 30, last week.

Charles Brown, prosecuting, said it was 'probable' that the five punches to the face which Walker, of Kingsbridge Wharf, Mill Hill, inflicted on Mr Kiernan in two separate attacks hours before his death had caused another brain bleed on the same damaged site.

But he said that after long discussions with senior CPS officials, doctors and police, they could not ask the jury to 'make that leap'.

He said: “We cannot say beyond reasonable doubt that it was this assault which caused or contributed to the fatal subdural haemorrage rather than another cause.

“It is undoubtedly the most likely cause but there is no evidence upon which, in our view, a jury could go further.”

On November 29, Mr Kiernan was assaulted at 5am and then again at 4.30pm.

Despite the attacks, he managed to walk to Mill Hill. Later that day he was found unconscious at Walker's flat.

The next day he died from head injuries in Royal Preston Hospital.

He was described as having an ‘eggshell head’ in court.

Tests showed Mr Kiernan had been taking anti-coagulant drugs for a brain bleed caused five days previously.

Doctors said the amount of trauma needed to cause a fatal re-bleed was 'very minor indeed'.

Witness Kelly Roberts had told police that Walker was responsible for the two attacks just before Mr Kiernan's death.

However, Judge Stuart Baker expressed his concerns that the manslaughter decision was 'being taken away from the jury'.

He said: “This is a man whose brain was already in a vulnerable state because of previous problems and anti-coagulant medication.

Bearing in mind you don’t have to prove the unlawful assault was the sole cause, on what basis do you say you cannot invite a jury to decide if this violence was a contributory factor in this man's death?”

Judge Baker also criticised both counsel for the 'completely inappropriate' decision to make the application so late on the first day of trial.

The Lancashire Telegraph understands that Mr Kiernan was initially admitted to hospital with his associates telling doctors they thought he had slipped on ice on his way to Walker's flat where he was found comatose.

Detectives originally treated his death as unexplained, but then upgraded it to suspicious and made an arrest.