A man jailed 12 years ago for a “senseless” attack on a homeless man who died a decade later from his injuries will have to serve another three years in prison after admitting to his murder.
Anthony Ellis had gone to a park after a family argument and hit Igor Pavlov with what is thought to be a tree branch as he sat on a bench in 2012, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
The 36-year-old received a 12-and-a-half year sentence in 2013 for causing grievous bodily harm with intent during the attack in Whitworth Park in Rusholme, Manchester.
Mr Pavlov died at the age of 52 on 3 July 2023 while Ellis was still serving his original sentence.
Ellis admitted a new charge of murder and had his sentence extended to a minimum of 15 years at Manchester Crown Court, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
They said the attack on 11 September 2012 came after he visited a relative in Manchester Royal Infirmary with his family, during which a row developed.
He then stormed out of the hospital and walked to Whitworth Park nearby, where he assaulted Mr Pavlov with such force that the latter never fully recovered from his injuries.
Ellis called for an ambulance, claiming he had come across Mr Pavlov in an injured state.
He then guided the ambulance to the location and even carried out first aid before repeating the same account to police when they arrived.
Examination of CCTV footage and and Ellis’ clothes however revealed his lies.
Despite repeating his version after his arrest, he later pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm on the first day of the trial.
In the 2013 trial, the prosecution said Ellis’s attack was an “act of senseless violence” which left the victim with very severe brain damage and needing specialist care.
Mr Pavlov suffered a fractured skull which left him in a coma for months.
Prosecutor Frances Birch said: “The final, devastating consequences of Anthony Ellis’s brutal attack on Igor Pavlov came more than a decade after the event – but the Crown Prosecution Service was determined to bring Ellis to book for murder all the same.
“The strength of the evidence, including medical evidence around the cause of Mr Pavlov’s death, meant Ellis had no option but to admit murdering Mr Pavlov.”
