Retired steelworker and electrician Lewis Wiles, aged 80, suffered fatal head injuries when he was pushed backwards by a 15-year-old boy the was trying to knee in the groin following a row at his son's newsagents shop in Hillsborough.

Assistant Deputy Coroner David Urpeth said: "This is a story we are all too familiar with, the tragic consequences which follow altercations, which are often for the most trivial of reasons. This case is no different.

"A man has lost his life, a family has been left devastated and young lives deeply affected."

The coroner recorded a narrative verdict which said: "Lewis George Wiles was involved in an altercation in Langsett Road, Sheffield, during which he was pushed and fell over, hitting his head, and died as a result."

The incident happened outside Mr Wiles's son Michael's Hillsborough newsagents on September 2 last year when youths were involved in a row with the shopkeeper.

The group had been ushered out of the shop by Michael, where the altercation continued and when the newsagent returned to his shop, his father went outside and the fatal incident happened.

Mr Wiles's other son Barry, who attended the whole inquest with his wife, said after the verdict: "It was a very sad day for the family. There have been a lot of issues raised, lots of history. I only hope all concerned can move on and learn for the future."

He also praised the police's "thorough" investigation.
Det Sgt Rob Pearson, of South Yorkshire Police, told the inquest of the scale of the investigation into the death of married Mr Wiles, from Gleadless.

Forty-seven officers followed 152 lines of enquiry and interviewed 35 witnesses.

The 15-year-old boy and 20-year-old Wesley Gordon were initially arrested, after Mr Gordon's row with Michael Wiles over buying single cigarettes led to the youths being ushered out of the shop and the subsequent confrontation.

But DS Pearson said Crown Prosecution Service lawyers had decided there was no case to answer.

Independent witnesses had told the inquest they saw Mr Wiles knee the boy, who pushed him back when he was on one leg, taking aim for a second time.

Mr Wiles hit his head on the pavement, suffering a double skull fracture and brain haemorrhage.


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