Teen may face new charge over death

Mar 1 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

A TEENAGER may be charged with the manslaughter of a father, a court heard yesterday.

Trained first-aider and keen golfer Nick Baty, 48, was left in a coma for a month after being attacked near a gym on his way home.

Father-of-one Mr Baty died a month later after his family made the decision to let him die naturally without medical help.

A boy of 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Cardiff Crown Court yesterday charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Baty. The court was told the charge was originally made before Mr Baty died.

Prosecutor Tracey Lloyd-Nesling said, “The charges against the boy are now being reviewed.”

She told Cardiff Crown Court a decision to bring a new charge of manslaughter could be made “by the end of next week”.

Mr Baty was allegedly kicked and stamped on in a car park at the back of a shopping centre known as the Triangle near the Physique Gym, in Brackla, Bridgend, in January, and left with severe head injuries. He died in hospital without regaining consciousness.

Mr Baty, of Brackla, Bridgend, worked as a night maintenance supervisor at the MediaWales press in Cardiff, which prints the Western Mail.

He had worked there for 14 years. He leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter.

The 17-year-old boy, from Brackla, Bridgend, will return to court in April for a plea and case management hearing.