A girl and two boys, all aged 15, have pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a dog walker was found dead just hours after a row in a park.
John Hackett’s mum discovered his body at his home in Nuneaton, in April 2023.
Warwickshire Police was called to reports the 36-year-old was assaulted in Snow Hill Recreation Ground a day earlier.
It was hours later that officers rushed to the house on Camp Hill Road he shared with his mum, who he used to care for.
Three teenagers, who remain unnamed because of their age, were then arrested on suspicion of murder.
As the case concluded, a woman sitting to the left of the defendants, understood to be a relative of the deceased, began to sob, after saying: ‘They have ruined my life, they have.’
The three pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied Hackett’s murder when they were arraigned at Warwick Crown Court in Leamington Spa on Monday.
Following the pleas, prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith told the court the not guilty pleas to murder were accepted by the Crown, and it would not seek a trial on the more serious charge.
Mr Grieves-Smith told Judge Andrew Lockhart KC, the Recorder of Coventry, that anxious consideration had been given to the issues in the case before deciding not to proceed to a trial on the murder charge.
‘The family of John Hackett have been spoken to and they have understood our decision. The pleas are acceptable,’ Mr Grieves-Smith said.
Judge Lockhart then told the defendants: ‘What that means is this – you three, having pleaded guilty, will not be tried for murder.
‘But in due course you will be sentenced for the offence of manslaughter, which is unlawful killing.’
Renewing conditional bail for all three teenagers, the judge added: ‘You have pleaded guilty to a really serious offence here today.
‘But you will get credit for that plea of guilty, which will reduce the sentence that would otherwise have been passed upon you.
‘Your sentence will be reduced by an appropriate margin that the judge will decide.’
‘The judge added: ‘This is plainly, as you will understand, a really important matter – not just for you but for the public as a whole.
‘In granting you bail I am giving you absolutely no indication other than you will all go to custody for this. You must prepare for that, as must your families.’
Mr Grieves-Smith did not open any of the facts of the case, pending a sentencing hearing on March 15.
