A MAN who admitted the manslaughter of an 87-year-old war veteran told a jury he pleaded guilty out of pity for the man's family.

Graham Holden, 21, of Countess Street, Accrington, said he acted as a lookout while his friend Paul Dwyer burgled James Allen's home.

But Holden told a Preston Crown Court he had believed the house was empty until he was later arrested.

Holden initially pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary and unlawful killing but changed his plea on Monday.

Dwyer, 43, of Tennyson Avenue, Oswaldtwistle, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges.

Mr Allen sustained a fractured hip when he was pushed roughly to the floor on October 31, and died a fortnight later in hospital, a jury at the Sessions House in Preston was told yesterday.

Just £30 was stolen from a safe in the pensioner's bedroom, which Holden said the man used to buy heroin.

Howard Bentham QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Dwyer started the chain of events that led to Mr Allen's death.

He said: "Mr Allen was pushed roughly to the floor. He was elderly and infirm and broke a bone in his hip.

"Dwyer persisted in his plan and stole money from the house, about £30, and left leaving Mr Allen on the ground."

In a statement before he died, Mr Allen described how he was pushed with some force causing him to fall to the floor. He told police: "I was shocked and upset about what had happened."

Richard Pratt, defending, said Holden had told a catalogue of lies to police before changing his plea.

He said Holden had initially told police that two other men had committed the offences but had now changed his story to blame Dwyer.

He said: "Mr Allen described the offenders as youths. You are 21 and Mr Dwyer is 42.

"From the moment you were arrested you have been determined to play down your involvement in this in order to get yourself off the hook."

Holden, who was living with Dwyer at the time of the offence, told the jury he had lied to "get us both off the hook."

He said: "I was scared of being on the streets and I was scared of Paul Dwyer so I lied to the police. I later pleaded guilty because he was an old man and I felt sorry for the family."

(Proceeding)