Paul Groom

Paul Groom died on 10 December 2019 at about 10pm about two days after an attack in Stanton Crescent, Kirkby.

His cause of death was given as blunt force trauma to the head.

A man was tried for his murder, but it was heard that it could not be proved that the injuries that he had caused resulted in Paul Groom's death. The man was however convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and sentenced to seven years after he admitted kicking Paul Groom before he died.

The man had kicked Paul Groom in the face on 8 December 2016, two days before he died, at a house party. He caused multiple fractures to his skull and left a shoe imprint on his head.

However, it was also noted that Paul Groom had been assaulted a few days earlier by a drug dealer from which he received minor injuries.

Paul Groom was a drug addict and had gone to the home of two other drug users in Stanton Crescent, Kirkby on the night of 9/10 December 2019 for what was described as a gathering.

Later, the man tried had called at the house at about 1am on 10 December 2019 saying that he could hear music and was reluctantly let in. The woman at the house said that she was wary of him as he had a reputation and had allegedly broken her sister’s boyfriend’s jaw before.

However, it was said that later on the man appeared to start frothing at the mouth and to become angry and that his behaviour then became distinctly threatening. The woman said that he started flexing his muscles and attacked the other man at the house and then suggested that he would knock Paul Groom out.

The man at the house said that later on, after he went to bed, he looked out of his window and saw Paul Groom and the man outside pushing each other. The man said that after that Paul Groom came back into the house with a cut eye, saying that the other man had caused it, and that the other man then burst into the house and attacked Paul Groom. It was said then that the man went straight to Paul Groom and knocked him to the floor and assaulted him. The court heard that the other man was too scared to intervene and said that the man punched and stamped on Paul Groom multiple times.

It was heard that the medical evidence established at least one shoe imprint on Paul Groom's head.

It was heard that after the man called an ambulance, Paul Groom said, 'He t****ed f*** out of me'.

When the police arrived, Paul Groom had a bloodshot eye, however, he refused to go to hospital or to make a complaint and later caught a bus home. CCTV evidence showed him going home at about 6.30am with an injured left eye.

However, it was heard that his condition grew worse, and when he later went to a pharmacy for some methadone, the staff there noticed that his eye was puffy and swollen and he was given dressings. He was advised to see his doctor, but he declined.

He was later seen walking uneasily towards a pub on 10 December 2016 and was later found unresponsive at his home by a friend who then called an ambulance.

However, it was noted that Paul Groom had received minor injuries a few days earlier after a drug dealer had assaulted him as a warning.

The pathologist said that it was 'very likely' that the man's assault had contributed to Paul Groom's fatal bleeding. However, he said 'I don’t believe a direct cause and effect relationship can be shown, with sufficient certainty to satisfy the criminal burden of proof'. After the pathologist returned his findings, the Crown Prosecution Service said that they could 'no longer safely pursue the allegation of murder'.

At the man's trial he said that he had 'overreacted to a perceived threat' and that he had only punched and kicked Paul Groom once. He said that he had punched and elbowed Paul Groom in self-defence as he thought that Paul Groom might stab him with a Swiss Army style penknife that he had.

When the judge sentenced the man for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, he said, 'One could perfectly understand members of his family thinking that it was your unlawful violence that had caused this unfortunate and untimely death. “You must be sentenced and will be sentenced for that which you have done and that which can be proved against you and also in accordance with your basis of plea'.

The judge noted that the man had been described as 'frothing and foaming from the mouth' at the time and said that he had no doubt been angry when he had attacked Paul Groom, who he described as a 'defenceless man', and sentenced him to seven years.

Paul Groom had lived in Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley.