‘Morally superior’ Paul Ince killed John Ithell in a ‘mindless piece of violence’
15:16, 17 Oct 2025Updated 17:22, 17 Oct 2025
Paul Ince, 31, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham, was convicted of the manslaughter of John Ithell(Image: North Wales Police)
A man has been found guilty of manslaughter after a drunken attack. Paul Ince, 31, had been on trial for manslaughter over the death of John Ithell after allegedly punching the 59-year-old.
At about 2.30pm today – after seven hours of deliberations – a judge at Mold Crown Court told the jury of six men and six women he would accept a majority verdict.
Minutes later they duly returned with a guilty verdict of 11-1 on the ninth day of the trial in Courtroom Number One. As Ince remained expressionless in the dock and a woman sobbed in the public gallery, a judge told him he had “cynically” tried to avoid responsibility for a “mindless piece of drunken violence.”
John Ithell died, aged 59, at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in June 2023. Paul Thomas Ince, 31, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham is on trial at Mold Crown Court for his manslaughter which he denies(Image: Family handout)
He could see “little if any” remorse. Mr Ithell and a friend had gone to Pont Wen in Pentre Gwyn to buy drugs, the court had heard.
But when Ince heard Mr Ithell he felt “morally superior”, according to the prosecution, “bounced” down the stairs out of a first floor flat and punched Mr Ithell in the garden.
Mr Ithell fell backwards into a fence and then banged his head on a concrete path, Mold Crown Court heard. He sustained a fractured skull and a brain bleed in the attack on June 12, 2023. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
Mr Ithell’s friend Rebecca Baldini later told police she had heard a “clack”. She said Mr Ithell “flew” four or five feet and hit a wooden fence.
She said later: “I can still hear the clack in my head. People say you can close your eyes to see it. I can see it with my eyes open.”
The court heard Ince’s friend Carl Brown then told Ince: “I think you’ve knocked him out.”
Although CCTV showed Ince helping Mr Ithell to a bench on the estate, and Mr Ithell tried to use his phone there in the early hours, only his “heavy breathing” could be heard in a phone call, and he was later found in a bush.
Two cyclists spotted him there at about 6am and raised the alarm. Paramedics arrived at 6.34am rushed Mr Ithell to Wrexham Maelor Hospital but he died there, some four and a half hours after the attack.
Ince, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham, had denied manslaughter, claiming he had only used both hands to “push” Mr Ithell on his shoulder. Ince’s account was that Mr Ithell fell backwards but only into the fence not to the ground.
Ince said he tapped a cut by his eye with tissues, and asked Mr Ithell if he wanted medical attention, which he declined. Calling an ambulance would therefore have been a “waste”, claimed the defendant.
Paul Ince, 31, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham, arrives at Mold Crown Court for the second day of his trial for the manslaughter of John Ithell, 59, in Wrexham which he denies.(Image: David Powell)
Ince also said he was seen running over a road nearby after the push to avoid a car. He said he stopped running on the other side.
But on a dramatic day of cross examination this week prosecutor Mark Connor called the defendant of a “liar”. He was accused of “playing dumb” to “pull the wool over the jury’s eyes” following “a moment of mindless violence”, said the prosecutor.
Today His Honour Rhys Rowlands told Ince he had caused a fatal head injury on a frail, much older man. Having drunk to excess he lost his temper in a moment of “mindless piece of drunken violence.”
Paul Thomas Ince, 31, of Cefn Road, Abenbury, Wrexham, leaving Mold Crown Court where he denies the manslaughter of John Ithell, 59.(Image: David Powell)
After the verdict the court heard Ince had a conviction for wounding in 2017 for which he got a suspended sentence.
Then he had cynically tried to avoid responsibility for the crime. The judge adjourned the sentencing for a report to be made by the probation service before a hearing on November 17.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable Katie Doyle said: “Our heartfelt condolences remain with John Ithell’s family today at the conclusion of this trial.“No result can compensate for the loss of life and the grief that has been caused, but I hope Ince’s conviction can bring some closure to John’s family as they continue to come to terms with their tragic loss.”
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