A man named Liam Slack has been sent to prison for killing someone over a plate of chicken wings. The victim was Paul Ainscough, a retired Army Sergeant Major. Slack, who is 34 years old, got four years and two months in jail for manslaughter. The fight happened at the Stag pub in Leyland, Lancashire.
According to The Sun, both men were drinking and ordered food around 7:30 PM. They each bought their own plate of chicken wings that cost £5.49. After Slack finished eating his wings, he decided he wanted some of Paul’s wings too. That’s when the argument started.
The fight got worse very quickly. People at the pub saw Slack push his friend hard. Paul, who was 57 years old, fell and hit a stone step. He got back up and tried to laugh it off like it was no big deal. But he was actually badly hurt.
A text message revealed how serious the injury really was
The next day, Paul sent Slack a text message about what happened. He wrote, “You were a right twat and grabbed my chicken. You attacked me and pushed me into a wooden fence, breaking my ribs. I could hardly move.” Paul had served 24 years in the Army and then worked as a police officer, so he was a strong person.
Slack knew right away that he had done something wrong. He admitted to pushing Paul and said he was sorry. He even told two women in a taxi later that night that he had knocked down his friend during a fight over food. This isn’t the first time food has triggered deadly violence.
When Paul got home that night, his partner thought he seemed okay. The next morning, he said his stomach hurt. His partner thought it was just a bad hangover because he had been drinking. On Monday morning, the pain got much worse. Paul told her to call an ambulance.
His partner left him sleeping on the sofa and came back around 4:00 PM. When she got home, Paul wasn’t responding. Paramedics came but said he was already dead. Doctors found that Paul died from bleeding inside his body after breaking three ribs in the fall.
Slack admitted to pushing Paul and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The judge, Robert Altham, said Paul was a “kind, generous and thoughtful man” who everyone respected. He called Paul’s life “proud and precious” and said it was taken by “such a thoughtless act of violence.”
The judge said Slack showed real regret, but noted that alcohol made things worse. Slack had a problem with becoming aggressive when he drank. Bizarrely, arguments over chickens have led to shootings in other cases too.
Published: Dec 2, 2025 01:00 pm