A MAN has been cleared of manslaughter after a court heard a hospital TWICE failed to save his victim's life.

Paul Parry, 25, walked free after Manchester Crown Court was told staff at Royal Oldham Hospital `abandoned' Arnold Siddall, who had suffered a fractured skull.

The jury heard from consultant neurologist Prof John Pickard, who said if Mr Siddall had been treated in hospital on either of the two admissions it was `likely' he would have lived.

Mr Siddall, 47, had been taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious when he was pushed over by Mr Parry outside the Lock wine bar in Failsworth, Oldham, after an altercation.

But the medical staff twice allowed Mr Siddall to leave within a 12-hour period because they thought he was `drunk', the court was told. On the first visit, he was assessed by a nurse as a `priority 3' patient and should have been seen by a doctor within an hour of being admitted.

But Mr Siddall was allowed to leave when he said he wanted to go home. He later returned and during that visit he was taken out in a wheelchair and left on a nearby grassed area by security staff because he was being `disruptive'.

The court was shown CCTV footage of Mr Siddall near the hospital kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands.

On another occasion he was shown on film sitting on a wall in the grounds before rolling to the floor.

It was only when police arrived at the hospital and Mr Siddall collapsed in the back of a police van that he was taken back into hospital and treated.

He died two days later after suffering brain damage.

Mr Parry, of Assheton Road, Newton Heath, Manchester, was arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Mr Parry's solicitor, Brian Koffman, has issued a statement on behalf of his client.

Mr Parry said: "I have always denied the allegations and I am glad my denials have been vindicated by the jury's decision."

Mr Parry had claimed that when he pushed the victim who, he claimed, was `aggressive swearing and very angry', he did not mean to cause any injury.

" I didn't push him hard. I didn't want him to fall over. I just wanted him to move and I wanted to stop any trouble. I am sorry for what happened to him."

The judge, Mr Justice Openshaw, has also now called for an urgent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the failure to treat Mr Siddall.

He said: "Although the symptoms of brain injury may be confused with drunkenness, as we have heard, it is quite clear to me that the very severe skull fracture and resultant brain injury which Mr Siddall was clearly suffering went undiagnosed at the hospital despite two formal admissions.

"The circumstances in which he was left, one might say abandoned, in the hospital grounds by the security staff strongly suggest to me that he did not receive the care to which he was entitled.

"I intend, formally, to report the matter to the coroner and the local health authority."

The relatives of Mr Siddall, of Oldham Road, Failsworth, are now to start their own legal proceedings and claim damages for the alleged lack of care he received in hospital.

His sister Joan Makin, 44, said: "We are determined to continue with our civil action. We hope this can go some way to getting justice for our brother."

Their lawyer Kris Inskip, of the Pannone firm, said: "The family believe that the hospital could have prevented his death had his condition been diagnosed and treated when he first attended hospital in the early hours.

"There was lots of CCTV evidence showing his behaviour in the grounds and no-one seems to have done anything about it."

A spokesman for Pennine Acute Trust, which runs Royal Oldham Hospital, said: "We again offer our condolences to the family of Mr Siddall. Because of future legal action we are unable to comment further."