UPDATE: Southport Man, 31, charged with manslaughter

**UPDATE 11:45AM WEDNESDAY 5TH JUNE**

James Peter Gelling has today, Wednesday 5th June, been charged with manslaughter.

Gelling, of Hampton Road, Southport, has been remanded into custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday 2nd July.

ORIGINAL

We can confirm a man who was left in a critical condition following an assault in Southport on Saturday (1 June) died today (Tuesday 4 June).

At about 10.40pm officers on patrol spotted a disturbance on Lord Street and discovered a man lying on the floor unconscious.

The man and his two sons were reportedly attacked by a group of men near to the Scarisbrick Hotel.

The 51-year-old victim, named as Ventsislav Marginov, a Bulgarian national who is resident in Southport, is believed to have been knocked to the floor and assaulted. One of his sons, aged 28 years from Southport, was also assaulted and suffered facial injuries.

Both men were taken to Aintree Hospital for treatment where the 51-year-old sadly died today.

James Peter Gelling, 31 years, of Hampton Road, Southport was earlier charged with grievous bodily harm and appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court this afternoon (Tuesday 4 June 2019). He has been remanded in custody.

A 32-year-old man from Southport arrested on suspicion of Section 18 wounding with intent has been released on conditional bail.

Officers continue to appeal for anyone with information about the incident to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101 quoting incident reference 19100282822 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.

ENDS