A MAN who attacked his uncle in a pub has been cleared of his killing.

Simon Parkinson, 23, of Lower Barnes Street, Clayton-le-Moors, had denied the manslaughter of Edward Robinson on July 23 last year and was found not guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court.

Following the verdict his mother, Mrs Sheena Parkinson, of Lower Barnes Street, said: "We just want to put it behind us."

She declined to comment further.

Parkinson, who worked for an antiques business at Colne, admitted he had hit and headbutted his uncle in the Old England Forever pub, Clayton-le-Moors, but did not think he was seriously injured.

He said he had "flipped" and hit him after Mr Robinson made a series of offensive remarks in the pub boasting of his homosexual experiences, some while he was married to Parkinson's aunt, Linda. The couple were later divorced.

Mr Robinson, 46, a chronic alcoholic, staggered home and died later in hospital from internal bleeding caused by fractured ribs rupturing his spleen.

Parkinson said he did not know how the fatal injuries were caused.

The prosecution said Mr Robinson, of Barnes Street, Clayton-le-Moors, had fallen on the arm of a wooden bench and when he left the pub no-one was aware how seriously injured he was.

A post-mortem examination also revealed facial injuries and bruises to the chest, back, arms and legs.

THE death of Eddie Robinson stunned the quiet and close-knit community of Clayton-le-Moors.

He collapsed at a neighbour's door, with blood on his face and shirt.

Babysitters dialled 999 for an ambulance as he slipped in and out of consciousness, saying he had been assaulted.

Paramedics initially revived him but his condition deteriorated and he died later in Blackburn Infirmary.

Mr Robinson was well-known and liked in the community, where friends and neighbours lined Barnes Street as a mark of respect as his funeral cortege passed his terrace home last August.

Rishton-born Mr Robinson settled in Clayton following his marriage to Linda, and the couple had a daughter, Louise, now 12.

Although the marriage ended in divorce, Mr Robinson thought the world of Louise, who lived not far away in Willow Street, and took his daughter swimming and shopping.

Mr Robinson liked a drink and was a familiar face at the Old England Forever, the Albion Hotel, and Forts Arms.

His sister, Florence Swindlehurst, who lives in Oswaldtwistle, said: "Eddie was a very happy go lucky person, very sociable and easy to get on with.

"Probably a lot of people liked him because he was a very carefree person and he had the time of day for folks.

"He certainly wasn't a troublemaker. He was not a malicious person."

Mr Robinson, who suffered badly from arthritis, was not a well man and looked older than his 46 years.

The youngest of nine children, he had attended Norden High School.

As a young man he worked as a miner at Hapton, and later as a machine operator at Machine Fabricators, Clayton-le-Moors, until being made redundant not long before his death.

He had been dogged by misfortune during the last few months of his life. He was troubled by a shoulder injury following a hit-and-run incident which he believed was deliberate.

His house had been burgled several times and he had put it up for sale hoping to get a council flat and live on whatever money he had left.

THE family of Eddie Robinson are trying to come to terms with his unsolved death.

And the trial has brought fresh anguish by sparking speculation he was a homosexual.

His sister, Florence Swindlehurst, said: "Eddie may have been an alcoholic, but he was not a bad person and he was not a homosexual.

"If someone is homosexual people know about it."

Florence was at the crown court throughout the trial.

She said: "Eddie is dead and there has to be someone responsible."

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