Christopher Monks

Christopher Monks died after being punched outside The Bold Arms in Botanic Road, Southport.

He became involved in an altercation with a man outside the pub on 14 March 2012 who punched him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and died nine days later on 24 March 2012 at the District General Hospital in Southport. However, the man claimed that he had acted in self-defence after Christopher Monks had headbutted him.

The man was arrested in connection with his death, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute  on the grounds that it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the man had not acted in self-defence.

When the man was arrested he was found to have had a large swelling on his forehead and said that Christopher Monks had headbutted him and that he had struck back in self-defence.

However, it was heard that although the man had had an injury to his head that he attributed to having been headbutted, there was no corresponding injury to Christopher Monks, which it was said, if he had headbutted the man, there would have been. A pathological expert said that the injury to the man would have required significant force and that he specifically looked for evidence of a headbutt on Christopher Monks during his post-mortem examination and confirmed that there was no bruising to his forehead. He added, 'If there had been force, I would have found bruising'. The pathologist also said that he found, 'no bruises to his knuckles to suggest he had thrown a punch', it being noted that it was suggested that he had been hitting people.

Christopher Monks  was found to have had blood alcohol levels of 191 milligrams per 100 millimetres whilst the  other man was estimated to have had 168 based on a sample taken seven hours after the altercation. However, the man was found to have also had traces of Cocaine and diazepam in his system which were consistent with him having used it in the hours before the sample was taken. Christopher Monks himself was found to have had traces of citalopram in his blood which was consistent with its use for panic attacks that he had suffered from.

It was further heard that there had been 38 witnesses, many of whom said that they had seen Christopher Monks headbutt the man.

The man was said to have given Christopher Monks a professional and strong uppercut punch to the head that had involved considerable force that had caused him to fall and hit his head.

One witness who made a statement but who was untraceable at the time of the inquest said that Christopher Monks didn't throw any punches as some people had said he had, but that he saw him lightly slapping a man's face, adding, 'I then saw the man walk over to the group, punch Christopher and turn and walk away. Christopher fell straight to the floor. To me it looked like he had the intention of hitting him to sort things out. It was completely unprovoked, I was watching the whole time and did not see Christopher do anything to the man to deserve being punched'.

Evidence was also heard from a woman that had known Christopher Monks since they went to Stanley High School, who said, 'The man came back into the pub and was holding one of his hands with the other and said, 'I have just knocked Monksey out', he said it for the people in the area to hear and he said it in a proud manner'.

Another witness said the man said to him, 'he went for me so I hit him'.

At the inquest, the Coroner said, 'I can conclude that he [Mr. Monks] was neither the deliverer nor the recipient of a headbutt in this incident. How the other man came to be so injured would involve speculation. I am sure, however, that the injury to the other man's forehead was not caused by contact with the head of Mr Monks. The forensic evidence, namely lack of brazing or bruises to the knuckles of Mr Monks at autopsy, does not support the theory that he was punching people with any great force, as alleged, or at all. I feel that there was a concerted effort by many witnesses to paint Mr Monks in as bad a light as possible. Equally there were many witnesses who, perhaps conveniently, were looking in another direction, when Mr Monks and the other man came together. I am also bound to mention the evidence of another man. I felt that his evidence was little more than a tissue of lies'.

The Coroner also criticised The Bold Public House and Lang’s Wine Bar for continuing to supply alcohol to persons who were already clearly drunk, ruling that they both had to accept some responsibility for the state of affairs.

The Coroner also criticised the police for their handling of the incident, both their actions, and their inactions.

The Crown Prosecution said, 'The suspect claimed he was acting in self-defence, struck the victim once and only after he had received a blow to the head from Mr Monks. A significant number of witness statements support the suspect’s version of events. After careful consideration of all the evidence, I have decided we would not be able in court to rebut the suspect’s claim that he was acting in self-defence. I have therefore concluded there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction'.