Nathaniel Nuttall has been cleared of the murder of Lee Thomas.

Nuttall, of Tenby Court, Monkton, was found guilty of the manslaughter of his neighbour, who was attacked on the morning of October 13, 2021.

Mr Thomas spent almost four weeks in hospital but never regained consciousness and died on November 10.

The jury had made their decision by 11.30am on April 29 at Swansea Crown Court after being sent away for deliberations on the afternoon of April 28.

Judge Thomas QC said a few words after the verdict was given, praising the jury for their work.

Judge Thomas said: "No judge can underestimate the degree of responsibility and pressure of being a jury in any case and what it puts on members of the public.

"You have come here with no training, put together with people you have never met before and worked together as a team to make an extremely important decision.

"It is hard normally, it is even harder in a case like this where one of the parties has died, it is even harder still in this time of Covid.

"It is a credit to each of you and the system that the system always works so well.

"Thank you for your care and attention to what was a disturbing and upsetting case."

In the early hours of October 13, 2021, Nuttall, 32, had been drinking at Mr Thomas’ flat when Mr Thomas, 42, started ‘having a go at Nuttall’ because of his partner.

When Nuttall, who lived above Mr Thomas’ flat, went to leave, Mr Thomas, who was due to go for dialysis treatment that morning, is said to have tried to stop Nuttall and slapped him on the face while saying ‘come on boy’.

At this point Nuttall said he lashed out, headbutting and punching Mr Thomas in the face.

When Mr Thomas fell to the floor Nuttall continued his assault, kicking Mr Thomas in the face and stamping on his head four to five times.

Nuttall contacted the emergency services and opened the call by saying, ‘there is blood, I have stamped on someone’s head, he is still breathing.’

In giving evidence Nuttall, 32, said he was scared of Mr Thomas who he accused of harassing and intimidating him.

On April 28, Nuttall told the court: “I didn’t want him to die. He was my friend, on the whole. I was scared of him at times, in the same way I was scared of my dad as a kid.”

Nuttall will next be in court on Friday, May 6, when his sentence could be decided.