A BRYNMAWR man who was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday, was told to expect a jail term.

Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams told Gareth Jenkins, 48, of Boundary Street, Brynmawr, he had “no option but to impose a prison sentence”.

The jury at Newport Crown Court decided Jenkins was responsible for the death of Harry Towers, who died several weeks after receiving “a severe beating” from him.

But he was cleared after a two-week trial of a charge of murdering the 56-year-old, from Abergavenny.

Sentencing was adjourned until Friday, July 20, pending compilation of a report on Jenkins, who was remanded in custody. Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams told him he has “no option but to impose a prison sentence”.

Mr Towers died at Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, on December 22, 2010, seven weeks after taking what prosecuting counsel Andrew Thomas described as “a severe beating” from Jenkins at the Britannia pub in the town’s Frogmore Street.

He sustained a fractured jaw, cheekbone and eye socket, and a displaced fracture of a wrist.

The pair had gone outside to fight on the evening of October 28, 2010, after squaring up to each other in the bar resulting from Mr Towers allegedly insulting Jenkins’ girlfriend.

The court was told Jenkins hit Mr Towers three times, including when he was on the ground, then walked back into the bar, saying: “I could have killed him.”

Mr Towers, originally from Manchester, had several previous convictions, including a seven-year jail term for firing a shotgun at a man in 1991, and Jenkins told the court he hit him again after he went to the ground, as he feared he might be carrying a knife.

Mr Thomas accused Jenkins of making up his concerns.

Mr Towers spent a week in intensive care immediately afterwards, and though he was transferred to a trauma and orthopaedic ward, his condition deteriorated. He fell while on that ward and was found to have suffered a fractured skull that had not shown up on admission or on initial scans. He was readmitted to intensive care three weeks before he died.

The prosecution argued that the injuries Jenkins inflicted did not have to be the sole cause of death, but began a cycle of decline that led directly to it.

Jenkins was arrested and charged last August, the intervening months having involved detailed medical investigations.