A MAN has admitted killing a “true gent” in an early morning attack in Salisbury City Centre.

Connor Pool pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Freddie Fontete-Jones in New Canal on February 20.

The 23-year-old suffered a “serious head injury” in the attack in the early hours of the Sunday morning and was taken to hospital, where he later passed away.

Pool, of Salt Lane in Winterbourne Gunner, had previously been charged with murder but had denied the charge. He admitted manslaughter as a direct alternative.

In a hearing at Winchester Crown Court on Friday (September 9), prosecutor Kerry Maylin confirmed that there had been “very careful consideration” following “multi-faceted evidence gleaned through the investigation”, and that the Crown Prosecution Service took the view “this is a case of manslaughter by virtue of the mechanism of injury and the mechanism that very sadly led to death”.

Ms Maylin said: “There was one punch and no follow-up by this defendant, but there is some behaviour post the death the Crown will point to.”

25-year-old Pool, who the court heard has not been in trouble with the law before, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing at the same court on November 3.

The hearing is scheduled to last all day and Pool will be produced in person.

The Recorder of Winchester, Judge Angela Morris, asked the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report considering the issue of dangerousness.

Addressing the defendant in the dock of Court 1, she said: “I’m sure you will appreciate from everything that has been discussed this morning that I’m not going to deal with you today. That is going to happen on the 3rd November when you will be brought to this court for the purpose of sentencing.

“It is in your best interest to co-operate with the probation service, that you provide all the information, so that they are in the best position to make a full and fair assessment.”

Pool was remanded in custody.

Wiltshire Police said at the time that the altercation involved around 15 men.

The city was shocked by the death of Mr Fontete-Jones, with a vigil held days after his death and several tributes paid to him.

A regular at The Village Freehouse in Wilton Road, the pub’s manager Adrian Leonard said Mr Fontete-Jones was “a beacon for the younger generation, a true gent that was kind, funny, caring, thoughtful and someone who any person would be proud to say that they knew him”.

“Though we only knew him over the past three years, in all my 28 years of this trade I could not wish for a better customer, he was someone that you could instantly connect with.”

A player for Laverstock and Ford football club, the club also said that it was an “absolute tragedy and one that has hit us all hard”.

A fundraiser smashed its £2,000 goal, and at the time of writing has raised more than £43,000.