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Man acquitted over Christmas Day murder crashed car into bus while drunk
Thomas Ward, who turned to alcohol after his son's manslaughter conviction, received a suspended sentence for drink-driving and a four-year ban.
- At Blackburn Magistrates' Court, Thomas Ward, 60, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months and disqualified from driving for four years after pleading guilty to failing to provide a specimen and driving without insurance.
- Defence mitigation said Ward developed alcohol problems after remand and suffers post‑traumatic stress disorder linked to his seven months on remand before Kirk Marsden’s trial.
- A roadside test showed a high alcohol reading of 81 micrograms per 100ml, prosecutor Graeme Tindall said Ward ran a red light, hit a bus, and failed multiple breath tests at the station.
- As part of the disposal, the court set financial penalties and a victim surcharge, ordering Thomas Ward to complete a nine‑month alcohol treatment requirement and 15 rehabilitation activity days alongside £400 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
- The son's manslaughter conviction ties back to the Christmas Day death when Kirk Marsden was injured on Christmas Day 2024 and died on Boxing Day after James Ward, 26, ran him over outside The Gate on Livesey Branch Road.
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Drink driver who mowed people down in Christmas rampage guilty of murder - Birmingham Live
Anthony Gilheaney, 31, has been found guilty of murder after he launched a series of unprovoked and violent attacks against five people in the early hours of Christmas Day 2024.
·Birmingham, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution77% Center
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
77% Center
L 23%
C 77%
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