Killer branded 'madman' jailed for life as victim dies after tree branch attack

A thug locked up for brutally assaulting a homeless man in 2012 has now been jailed for murder after his victim died over a decade later.

Anthony Ellis was 23 when he battered former barber Igor Pavlov with a tree branch in a park whilst in a rage after an argument with his gran. He was jailed for 12 and a half years in 2013 after admitting intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Mr Pavlov, then 41, suffered severe brain damage due to multiple skull fractures following the assault at Whitworth Park, opposite Manchester University, on September 11, 2012. He was left bedbound, paralysed, and unable to feed or wash himself.

The victim died in a care home on July 6, 2023, aged 52, from Broncho Pneumonia and Neuro Disability caused by his injuries with one nurse who treated him admitting he had “given up on life”.

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Ellis, from Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester admitted murder at Manchester crown court earlier this month. Yesterday he was handed a life sentence and told he would serve a minimum of 15 years - minus time he has already served. It is expected he will now be able to apply for parole in just two years.

The court heard Ellis had remained in jail since he was locked up in 2013 and had previously been refused parole after assaulting a prison officer in 2018.

The case is one of the UK’s oldest to be brought back to court following a person's death due to a violent attack. The oldest such case is thought to be that of a man who was jailed for life in Bristol over the death of his former girlfriend who died 21 years after she was set on fire by him during a domestic assault in 1998.

The old year and a day rule, which prevented murder charges if the victim died more than a year and a day after the injury, was abolished in the UK by the Law Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act 1996.

The court heard Ellis, now 36, had behavioural problems as a child and was recommended for a residential school - but he was kept in mainstream education despite episodes in which he would “bark like a dog”' for two hours.

The attack occurred after he had visited his sick grandmother at Manchester Royal Infirmary where she rebuked him from her hospital bedside and told him to “bloody behave”.

Rob Hall prosecuting said: '”His mood at the hospital had been described as funny, agitated and excitable and when his grandmother told him to ‘bloody behave’ this seemed to inflame the situation and he stormed out of the ward and the hospital.

“No doubt the heightened state he was experiencing made a significant contribution to losing his temper a short time later. In the moments before the attack, he was seen trying to get a cigarette from a passerby and it is of note Ellis' own mother had described him as a ‘madman if he doesn't get his cigarette’.”

When Ellis encountered Mr Pavlov, who was sitting alone on a bench, it is thought he demanded a cigarette from the victim.

During the ensuing assault Mr Pavlov, originally from Estonia, was battered about the back of the head at least five times with a tree branch. The assault continued whilst the victim was on the ground, unable to defend himself.

Ellis left him for dead and left the park to dispose of the weapon. He returned shortly afterwards and dialled 999, falsely claiming he was a good samaritan.

Police initially treated Ellis as a witness but became suspicious when his account differed from his movements as captured on CCTV. Forensics experts examined blood spatters on his shoes, trousers and hooded-top, and concluded he had carried out the attack.

The victim, described as an “intelligent, kind and happy” man before the assault, suffered such severe brain damage in the assault, he was never able to give a full account of what happened.

A statement from nurse Gemma Curley, who treated him, told how he deteriorated: “In the end I think he just wanted to die. We tried our very hardest to make his life as comfortable as possible but I don't think he had the strength, will or power to fight anymore.'”

Sentencing Ellis, Judge Suzanne Goddard KC told Ellis: “The circumstances which led to the dreadful and truly terrible injuries you inflicted upon Mr Pavlov are difficult to fathom. He must have suffered horrendously before he died'”