Drunk ‘nutty’ beat vulnerable amputee in wheelchair to death for selling drugs to son

An alcohol and drug-driven ‘madman’ beat a vulnerable amputee to death in a wheelchair on allegations that he had sold drugs to his son.

Daniel Sharples, a martial arts enthusiast, had been drinking pints of beer and shots since 11 a.m. before launching the horrendous attack on Michael Mairs, 53, according to a court.

The 38-year-old man assaulted Mr. Mairs under a railway bridge in front of several witnesses who described that he had used a “karate kick” on the defenseless victim.

When the 38-year-old man was arrested after the murder, officers told him that the seriously injured Mr. Mairs had been rushed to hospital.

But Sharples told police: “The guy in the wheelchair … the one who sold my hit son. Well, I’ll never go against that.

“I’m glad I did and will do it again.

“He almost killed my 15-year-old son, he’s in a coma and you haven’t done anything.”

At trial, it was heard that there was no evidence to support Sharples’s claim that Mair had sold drugs to her son.

In fact, Sharples’ teenage son gave a statement saying that he had never used drugs and did not know and had never met Mr Mair, reports the Liverpool ECHO.

Sharples admitted manslaughter, but denied murder, in connection with the attack in downtown Warrington on the afternoon of October 6 last year.

He decided not to take the stand and did not offer any evidence in his defense, which was based solely on his lawyer’s closing speech.

Stephen Wood, QC, in defense, said his client did “a terrible thing,” but said there was “at least one lingering doubt as to what he really intended” given that he was “clearly intoxicated.”

Wood said witnesses described Sharples as a “wacko,” who was “foaming at the mouth,” and in a police van he was calm, then suddenly turned and hit his head on the door, before getting dirty and undressing on a cell phone, then he hit himself.

He said: “The overwhelming conclusion is that Daniel Sharples was not in control, far from it.”

Jurors took 10 hours of deliberation to find him unanimously guilty of murder, after a seven-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Mr. Mairs was a “very dear” father to his son and daughter, and had a young granddaughter, but suffered from health problems such as chronic alcoholism, liver cirrhosis, and deep vein thrombosis, leading to partial amputation of his leg. left. .

During the trial, Richard Pratt, QC, the prosecutor, said that his attacker had “undoubted skill and ability” in the martial arts.

The jury saw videos that Sharples had posted on Facebook, which showed him throwing high kicks at targets.

One woman, who saw Sharples kick Mr. Mairs in the face, described it as a “round kick, the kind a martial artist could use.”

A bus driver said Sharples hit Mr. Mairs in the face while the victim was in his wheelchair, then kicked him in the head as he lay unconscious on the ground.

Another witness said: “It was like something from a movie, like a karate kick, it looked strong and fast.

“The attacker’s leg went up high enough to kick him in the face.

“I think the force of the kick caused the wheelchair to fly backwards with the man in it.”

The woman said Sharples threw her victim out of the chair before kicking him again, while onlookers gasped in terror.

When a witness tried to persuade him to stop and said the police were coming, he replied, “I don’t give a damn, he’s been selling spices to my 15-year-old son.

But after his apparent confession to officers, Sharples appeared to back down.

Mr. Pratt said, “A little later, perhaps realizing that what he was saying might not be helpful, he said he wanted to ‘withdraw it because now I’m drunk.’

Sharples said, “I take it all away. I haven’t touched that guy. Because you really shouldn’t ask me these things. I’m pissed off.”

The court heard that Sharples, of Grisedale Avenue, Orford, Warrington, was “completely intoxicated with alcohol and valium” and claimed to remember nothing about the incident.

After the attack, however, he took off his jacket and cap, then tried to escape by entering a bar and climbing up a back wall at a beer garden, but was arrested in a parking lot.

A waitress who had seen him at 11am said Sharples ordered a shot of Sambuca, along with a pint of beer, to meet the £ 5 minimum spending requirement when paying by card.

Twenty minutes later, he ordered four more drinks, giving two to another customer, whom he didn’t seem to know, and then asked if he was at a nearby ice cream parlor.

The waitress said Sharples asked her if they found her cell phone, despite giving it to her to charge, and she thought he was drugged, so she stopped answering him.

In his closing speech, Pratt suggested that Sharples was guilty of murder because he forcefully kicked his victim in the head in a “persistent” and “controlled” attack.

He said that despite his “intoxication”, there was “presence of mind to remove his clothes and change his appearance and a determined effort to escape.”

Mr. Pratt said, “You don’t have to trust what he did, because he told you. He told people at the time what he was doing and why he was doing it.

“When you look at the things the defendant did and said, you cannot leave any doubt about his intention.”

Sharples will be sentenced on October 27.