By Neal Keeling
A man who was jailed for the murder of his best friend has had the conviction quashed. But Jonathan Snape, who has spent seven years in prison, will face a retrial. Snape was given a life sentence after he ran over and killed his friend, Nathan Marshall, outside a social club in a drunken-rage. Then aged 30, he was sentenced in December 2018 after being found guilty of murder and the attempted murder of another man. But the case was referred to the Court of Appeal after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said earlier this year there were “irregularities” in the way the guilty verdicts were reached, saying there was a “real possibility” his conviction was unsafe. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal. The Judicial Office has since confirmed his conviction was quashed and a retrial has been ordered for murder, attempted murder, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding. Today, Greater Manchester Police said in a statement to the M.E.N.: “We are aware of the Court of Appeal ruling, and will now be working with the CPS to ensure the case can proceed to a retrial as expeditiously as possible. “We remain in contact with the family of Nathan Marshall and are supporting them as this process continues.” DAILY: Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here The incident happened at The Salisbury Club in Brinnington on Sunday, May 27, 2018. Snape had arrived at the social club with his then-pal Mr Marshall and other friends to play pool earlier that evening. But a brawl broke out with Snape punching one man and knocking a woman unconscious as she tried to intervene. As she hit the ground, Snape began beating the man with his fists, who by this point was using pub furniture to try and protect himself. The trouble spilled outside and Snape, who had been ordered to leave the club, got behind the wheel of a black Audi A4. He drove the car towards a crowd, ploughing into Mr Marshall and another man, Aaron Baker. Mr Marshall, 30, was fatally injured and Mr Baker thrown into the air, landing on the windscreen. Snape was found guilty of the murder of Mr Marshall and the attempted murder of Mr Baker after a trial at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. Snape, of Yew Tree Lane, Manchester, also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, section 20 assault and section 47 assault. He was told he would serve a minimum of 24 years before being considered for release. But the CCRC referred the case to the Court of Appeal after saying there were irregularities in the way the jury verdicts were returned. The CCRC said in a statement issued in March that prior to trial, Snape pleaded guilty to four counts including the manslaughter of Mr Marshall (an alternative to murder) and unlawful wounding of Mr Baker (an alternative to attempted murder). The statement said: “The issue for the jury was mainly around intent and transferred malice, as the prosecution case was that Mr Snape had intended to kill Mr Baker, with whom he had had a fight earlier. “He had subsequently driven a car towards Mr Baker’s group but ended up hitting his friend, Mr Marshall, who later died from his injuries. “Questions have since been raised around the taking of jury verdicts on the count of murder of Mr Marshall, attempted murder of Mr Baker, and wounding Mr Baker with intent. “Unanimous guilty verdicts were taken on 17 December 2018 to count one (murder of Mr Marshall) and count three (wounding Mr Baker with intent). The jury were then discharged but concerns were raised by the defence at the time about the validity of the verdicts and whether they were in fact unanimous. “It was agreed that the judge would bring back the jury the following day to repeat the procedure of taking the verdicts. However, when the jury returned the following day, they went into a further period of retirement and a majority direction was given. “Following this, new verdicts were taken and the jury found Mr Snape guilty by a majority on count one (murder of Mr Marshall) and count two (attempted murder of Mr Baker).” Now, the Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal. It comes after Mr Snape, now 37, first applied for leave to appeal against his convictions and sentence immediately after his conviction. Leave to appeal conviction was refused in April 2019 and Mr Snape renewed his application to the Full Court. The Full Court refused the application in December 2019, stating the convictions could not be considered unsafe. It dismissed the appeal against sentence, stating that the jail term ‘comes nowhere near being manifestly excessive’. Mr Snape’s representative applied to the CCRC in April 2023, raising concerns about the way in which the verdicts were taken. Following investigation of the way in which the verdicts were taken, the CCRC determined that this point provided a “real possibility” the Court of Appeal would find Mr Snape’s convictions unsafe. Today, the CCRC declined to comment further.