Sutton: The family of a talented young doctor hope they will now be able to grieve for their son, following the manslaughter conviction against his killer.

Dr Owen Daniel Smith, who was known as Dan, fell 30ft from the bathroom window of a house in Sheen Road, Richmond, on November 25 last year.

The 31-year-old suffered serious head injuries and died four days later at the specialist Atkinson Morley Hospital, in Wimbledon.

Dean Chesters, 20, of Sheen Road, denied manslaughter, but admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, at Southwark Crown Court last week.

He said he had assaulted the doctor after returning home and finding him asleep in his mothers bed with her friend Gillian Bonnick.

The court heard that Chesters repeatedly punched the doctor in the face while he lay in bed before dragging him into the bathroom to get a flannel to wipe the blood off the carpet.

Prosecutor Michael Worsley argued that Dr Smith, who worked as a registrar at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in Devon, had been so terrified by the assault he looked for a means of escape and jumped out of the window to his death.

Throughout the five-day trial Dr Smiths family sat at the back of the court and relived his last known movements.

Afterwards they issued a statement, which said: "Dan was a warm, funny, unforgettable person and his loss is unbearable to his family and friends.

"He was a brilliant surgeon, dedicated to his profession, on which he had already made a considerable impact.

"For a man who was committed to saving life, to have suffered in this manner is, we feel, outrageous."

Chesters will be sentenced on January 25.

December 24, 2001 11:30