Sheffield man Paul Franks jailed over fatal attack on patient at Rotherham hospital

A convicted sex offender from Sheffield has been jailed for manslaughter after killing a fellow patient in a fight in hospital.

Paul Franks, who was 47 at the time of the incident, was being treated at Rotherham District General Hospital when he assaulted fellow patient, Paul Reed, 48, on the ward they were sharing on 12 February this year.

In the early hours of the following day, Mr Reed died of his injuries. A postmortem found he suffered a bleed on the brain.

Franks appeared at Sheffield Crown Court and was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to manslaughter ahead of a trial that was due to take place in May.

Det Insp Andy Knowles of South Yorkshire Police was leading the investigation. He said: "This was an awful and entirely unnecessary incident that resulted in a man tragically losing his life.

"My sympathies are with Mr Reed’s family. I hope that they can now start to move forward and process what happened, knowing the man who’s actions led to their loved one’s death is behind bars."

Franks was handed six years in prison for manslaughter, with a further two years to run consecutively after a community order was revoked and he was re-sentenced for unrelated sex offences.

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