No charges after ‘fight’ death probe

10:40am Thursday 24th July 2008

HIS death from head injuries, a day after being assaulted on a night out, sparked a tense police stand-off outside his home – and then a major investigation by detectives.

But today it emerged that inquiries into Lord David Wharton’s death last year have been quietly completed without anyone ever being charged, and a full inquest by the York coroner is now pending.

North Yorkshire Police said a 46-year-old local man who was arrested after Mr Wharton’s death had been released without charge, with no further action to be taken.

“The investigation is closed and there are no suspects,” said a spokesman.

He said he could not go into any other details because an inquest was to be held.

The coroner, Donald Coverdale, said he had received a “very large” file of papers from police comparatively recently, and the matter would proceed to inquest in due course.

“No date has been fixed as yet, nor have I made any decision on procedural matters, such as any requirement for a jury,” he said.

Mr Wharton, 56, of Constantine Avenue, Tang Hall, who was the uncle of famous boxer Henry Wharton, died in March last year.

The Press reported at the time how armed police and plain clothes officers swooped on the property after paramedics had turned up at the house and were threatened with an axe and baseball bats.

When an inquest opened into his death, it heard Mr Wharton’s wife had returned to the family home to find him dead, and a post-mortem examination subsequently revealed his death was caused by head injuries. He had been assaulted on a night out.

Mr Coverdale said then that Mr Wharton had been having blood tests prior to his death and had seen his GP.

“On the evening of March 21 this year, he was assaulted and returned home, having been out for a drink, with some bruising to his left eye and the right side of his mouth,” he said.

“He was unwell that evening, complaining of headaches. In the afternoon of March 23, the following day, his wife returned home to find him at home, apparently dead.”

A police source told The Press at the time that a fight had broken out between Mr Wharton and one of his relatives on the night before he died.

Police threw massive resources into the investigation, with three police vans remaining in the area around Constantine Avenue more than 24 hours after officers were first called.

At one stage, police also sealed off the Lawrence Street Working Men’s Club with incident tape, with officers posted outside.

Mr Wharton’s daughter Tammy, 31, told of her devastation at her father’s death and her family’s grief and bewilderment.

She said she wanted to pay tribute to her father on behalf of her and her five brothers, saying: “My dad was a good man, the best man ever.”

Hundreds of mourners flocked to pay their respects to Mr Wharton at a funeral staged at St Denys Church, in Walmgate, York. The funeral procession from Walmgate Bar to the church was led by a police motorcycle.

The Reverend David Goodhew told mourners: “Life has changed drastically, but you don’t know exactly how or why. Hard though it is, we must wait for the investigation to be completed.”

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