Daniel Mark Phelan

Daniel Mark Phelan died from brain injuries.

A 26-year-old man was tried for his manslaughter at St Albans Crown Court in July 1984 but acquitted. 

It was alleged that he had hit Daniel Phelan after he wet the bed. 

Daniel Phelan's mother had been out at the time. 

Daniel Phelan was said to have become ill later in the evening when his mother returned and to suffer from convulsions. He was then rushed to hospital whre it was found that his brain was swollen. 

The prosecution said:

However, conflciting medical evidence was given to the court, It was said that there could only be two reasons for Daniel Phelan's death, injury or viral infection. However, the doctor that carried out the post mortem said that there was no sign of a viral infection whilst another doctor said that an infection could not be ruled out. 

The man admitted to having hit Daniel Phelan once or twice during the day in anger. 

However, he was acquitted of manslaughter.

It was later reported that following his acquittal, the man had not been able to get a job as a builders labourer as a result of the matter and that the people around his street  had daubed his door and walls with the words:

and 

He was said to have spent months in the security wing of Leicester gaol, after expereincing taunts which it was said inmates usually reserved for Rule 43 prisoners, homosexuals, perverts and child molesters. It was also noted that his trial had come to a halt after the judge, having heard enough half way through the prosecutions case, brought in a not guilty verdict, meaning that his defence was not heard nd he was deprived of any opportunity to say his piece. 

He said that the people of Bedford had tried him and found him guilty and sentenced him to longer than anything a Crown Court judge could have imposed. He noted that the people of Dover Crescent, Bedford had even got up a petition calling for him and his family to be moved from their council house.