Youth released after dustbins row death

Last updated at 08:47 19 October 2004


A teenager arrested following the death of a man who photographed a gang of youths he allegedly saw kicking over dustbins has been released on bail.

John Bill, 64, from Crewe Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, confronted the gang outside his house.

His body was discovered in the street at 12.45am on Monday. He had suffered a serious head injury.

Detectives from Cheshire Police said they were treating the death as "suspicious".

A spokesman for the force said an 18-year-old man from Sandbach had been questioned on suspicion of assault after being arrested and released on police bail last night. He was due to return to the police station on November 26 at 1pm.

Det Chief Insp Neil Ellwood said it appeared that Mr Bill had been involved in an altercation with one or more groups of youths.

He said: "The disagreement is believed to have centred around refuse strewn in the street and bins having been kicked over.

"A short time later the deceased was seen to be taking photos of a group. The man was found lying on the street a short time after that."

A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out today.