Thug is convicted of killing graduate after Asda petrol station punch

A thug has been convicted of killing a man after a row at a petrol station, a court has heard.

The assault occurred in December 2017 when Polish national Bernard Hirsch pulled into the Asda petrol station on Marsland Road in Manchester, Sale to fill up his car with fuel.

Hirsch, then 40, was standing on the forecourt when another motorist Tyren Pollard went up to him and began an argument over the victim's use of an assistance pump- which are reserved for disabled drivers.

During a heated exchange, Pollard who walks with the aid of crutches, hit Hirsch in the face and repeatedly struck him with his walking stick.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Pollard, 52, of Sale, who lists his education as 'Strangeways' and his job as 'Mob Wars' on Facebook was found guilty of manslaughter and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

CCTV played to jurors showed the two men, both of whom had mobility issues, arriving at the petrol station from different directions. 

While filling up his Audi A3, Pollard who was with his dog began shouting at Hirsch before walked towards the kiosk and then turning and approaching the victim.

Witnesses claimed that both men were shouting and accused Pollard of swinging his crutch at Hirsch and punching him to the floor.

He then left his victim bleeding on the floor with a split lip, went to the kiosk to pay for his own fuel telling a cashier: 'He did not need to be at f***ing pump six - there is nothing wrong with him'.

When interviewed Pollard who uses a crutch to walk following a road traffic accident in 1997 claimed he had mistaken Hirsch for a man who had earlier hit his Shih Tzu dog through the window of his Audi when their two vehicles were stopped at traffic lights near a tram stop.

He said he heard the victim make an 'aggressive' remark and sounded his horn for 10 to 15 seconds when the two cars pulled up at the petrol station. 

Pollard told the court he proceeded to 'give him the finger', but he dismissed it as 'motorist banter' and denied punching him.

Pollard told the court Hirsch swung a crutch at him three times but missed and struck his own vehicle, damaging the wing mirror.

He added: 'At first I just thought it was a bit of motorist banter. I didn't know he was going to swing his crutch. 

'I never expected to have to defend myself, even though I had invaded his space.'

But Michael Brady KC, prosecuting, said the previous altercation 'never happened' and told Pollard: 'The reason you told the police about that incident was to paint  Hirsch in a bad light. 

'Because you knew, despite what you told this jury, that you attacked him.'

Hirsch, who in fact suffered from the kidney disorder Nephrotic Syndrome and was awaiting an organ transplant returned home following the attack but did not tell his nurse wife Marzena what had happened as it is believed he was due to attend a birthday party the following day.

He later began suffering severe headaches and vomiting and collapsed at home with a bleed on the brain.

Hirsch was rushed to hospital where he spent three months in a coma with his family saying he suffered two severe strokes. 

He was eventually discharged in August 2018 after nine months of treatment but was left 'profoundly' disabled with well wishers raising £2,200 following a public appeal to equip his specially adapted sterile bedroom to help with his basic needs.

In March 2020 aged 43, Hirsch who lived in Manchester was readmitted to hospital with suspected Covid-19 and died eight days later with tests showing the attack contributed to his death.

According to the victim's family Hirsch attained a Masters degree in economics in his native Poland but was unable to find a suitable job there so emigrated to England in 2004.

Over a 12 year year period he worked in the care sector but was signed off on sickness benefits after his medical condition worsened and he was put on regular dialyses, pending a kidney transplant.

A post-mortem examination gave Hirsch's cause of death as 'COVID-19' but pathologists concluded that his head injury was a factor in his death.

Pollard was bailed pending sentencing on January 9. 

Judge Maurice Greene told him: 'This is a serious matter and the sentence is very likely to be a custodial sentence. You understand that.'