A MAN has pleaded guilty to killing his 42-year-old neighbour in the seaside town of Fleetwood.

Father-of-three Keith Waterworth, originally from Bolton, was found in a ground floor flat in North Albert Street, Fleetwood, on April 22.

A post mortem examination revealed he had died of “external haemorrhaging from a severe fracture to the nose”.

James Howard, aged 24, who lives at a nearby address in the same street, admitted a charge of manslaughter when he appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard that a police investigation established that Mr Waterworth had been assaulted in a local pub two nights earlier.

Judge Anthony Russell QC told Howard: “You have pleaded guilty to this offence of manslaughter. That is a serious offence.

“The court will be considering a custodial sentence in your case, but it is right, given the circumstances of this case, that I should have as much information about you and your background as possible before deciding on the appropriate length of that sentence.”

There was no application for bail and Howard was remanded in custody to a date to be fixed at the end of December.

Howard was arrested just days after he moved to Fleetwood from Carlisle.