A local man has been sentenced at Chester Crown Court to eight years and six months - after being convicted of manslaughter.

Daniel Griffiths from Audlem, was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday 5 May. 

Today (May 11), the South Cheshire man has been sentenced.

Andrew Guy was sadly killed (Cheshire Constabulary).

A summary of what happened

Daniel Griffiths repeatedly beat Andrew Guy with a baseball bat shortly after he had sent his partner the text message 'on way babe, 10 mins'.

After the attack, at 43-year-old Griffith's property on Stafford Street in Audlem, Andrew returned to his mother's home in Buerton.

Throughout the night Andrew, aged 54, was in significant pain and the following morning his body was found by his mother.

In case you missed it: South Cheshire man convicted of 'jealousy' killing of 54-year-old.

When did it happen and how?

The bat believed to have been used by Griffiths to hit Andrew (Cheshire Constabulary).

On Friday 15 October, Andrew travelled to his mother's home by train from Bournemouth where he had been living for around four months.

The following afternoon he drove to Market Drayton and Whitchurch to meet with friends  

While in Whitchurch he received a text message and a phone call from Griffith's partner, from a mobile phone allegedly used by both Griffiths and his partner.

Andrew arrived at the pair's house at around 7pm to bring them drugs and shortly afterwards a neighbour heard raised voices involving an argument between Andrew and the couple.

During this time Griffiths has dragged Andrew outside and inside the property during which he used a baseball bat to hit him in the stomach and leg. The blows to his leg left him with dented marks which he covered with a T-shirt.

After the assault Andrew drove back to Buerton and changed clothes before picking up a takeaway in Market Drayton that he'd promised to bring home to his mother.  

While waiting for the takeaway he sent text messages to Griffiths and his partner's phone saying he was in '10 out of 10' pain in his stomach and bleeding as a result of the injuries inflicted upon him.

When he returned home the pain from the assault intensified and he confided in his mother that Griffiths had 'set about me' with a baseball bat. 

The following morning at around 10.15am on Sunday 17 October Andrew was found in the bathroom. 

An ambulance attended to the property and despite best efforts by paramedics and his mother Andrew could not be revived.

Following a Home Office Post Mortem (HOPM) results found Andrew had died due to a large amount of internal bleeding in to his abdomen from blunt force trauma. 

What then followed was an extensive investigation by detectives from Cheshire Constabulary's major investigation team to piece together Andrew's movements in the run up to and after the attack using telecoms data as well as CCTV footage.

On Friday 29 October, Griffiths was arrested at his address and subsequently charged. The baseball bat was recovered from his property.

What has been said?

Cheshire Police thank everyone who has supported the investigation (Cheshire Constabulary).

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon said: "Andrew died an agonising and slow death due to extensive internal bleeding after being struck numerous times from Griffiths hitting him with what we believe was a baseball bat. 

"While we may never know exactly why Andrew was attacked by Griffiths we believe the reason was closer to home than over bringing drugs to the address and because he wrongly thought Andrew was romantically interested in his girlfriend.

"Since Andrew died it has been a difficult time for his mother and his family and friends and our thoughts have been with them since he passed away.

"We have worked incredibly hard to ensure that we were able to find his killer and to be able to give him and his family the justice they deserve.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the investigation that has led us to where we are today including key witnesses and members of the public who came forward with information as well as the investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service."

Following the guilty verdict Andrew's family have paid tribute to him: "While it doesn't ease the pain we've been caused by Andrew's senseless death, we are grateful for the guilty verdict today. Andrew did not deserve to die the way he did, and the trauma of it has left its mark on all of us.

"We would like to thank all of the people who bravely came forward to offer help and information to the police and also those who came to court to give evidence so that the person responsible for Andrew's death could be brought to justice.

"We would also like to thank Cheshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service for all of their hard work. Especially Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon, Detective Sergeant Paul Nolan and the rest of their team.

Daniel Griffiths from Audlem, was convicted of manslaughter last week on Thursday 5 May (Cheshire Constabulary).

"The work of the detectives is an honour to Andrew's memory. The support of the family liaison officers Tom and Sarah and victim support officer Helen has helped us navigate this extremely difficult time and we could not have coped without them.  

"Andrew was a dear son, brother, uncle and father and we will miss him terribly. We would like to ask that we now be allowed to grieve in private and come to terms with our future without him." 

READ MORE: Almost 200 Cheshire East families offered homes to Ukrainian refugees and rising.

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