I killed an innocent man in pub bloodbath. Now I have a message for his family

A former 'madman' who killed an innocent man outside a pub and was stabbed twice while in prison says he wants to meet his victim's family.

Brett Gleeson believes he has managed to turn his life around while behind bars. The 40-year-old was obsessed with machetes and guns before killing Adam Nightingale, 28, on March 25, 2015.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a night out at Mucky Duck pub in Rochdale turned into a violent bloodbath. He was sentenced to four years in jail and five years in a psychiatric ward.

Brett, who used to go by self-proclaimed nickname “the madman”, confronted and punched Adam in the head. The victim fell to the floor and later died of his injuries.

But after his release, Brett said he now wanted to fully 'repent' for the killing that he committed due to his own 'bravado'. And he and said he would want to meet his victim's family, offer his apologies and would 'do anything he could' to help them.

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Brett said: “I am devastated by what happened and feel bad every day. I felt like I was in the depths of hell, it really broke my heart, now I want to try and give something back to the world.”

After the attack, Brett, who was 30 at the time, fled the area, but was arrested at his flat at around 3am. Police arrested him and took him to GMP central Park in Manchester where he was then granted technical bail and sectioned.

Brett, who suffers with schizophrenia, was kept in hospital under psychiatric evaluation for six weeks before being sentenced to a six-year extended determinate sentence, with the judge describing his actions as “cowardly attack.”

Brett, from Rochdale, said: “I still don’t know why I did it, I had been on a five-day bender, I think it was bravado. It haunts me to this day, it’s very difficult to get over still.

"I would do anything that Adam's family wanted - if it would help them then I would meet them - I just pray every day for them and for Adam."

While in prison, Brett lost custody of his child and developed an “extreme” spice habit. He had stints in HMP Forest Bank, Strangeways prison, Manchester, Wymott Prison, Lancashire, Preston prison, and Buckley Hall prison and on two occasions he was stabbed.

In total he served six years of an Extended, Determinate Sentence which ended in 2021, though he was sectioned until 2024 due to his mental health.

In one instance, he was stabbed in retribution by Liverpool fans in his block after a football match in which a Liverpool fan were stabbed in Turkey. Brett, who converted to Islam while inside, said inmates wanted him stabbed in revenge “as he was Muslim, and Turkey is a Muslim country.”

In a second instance, he went to ask a cell neighbour for some sugar, when an inmate, angered by the request came running over, told Brett to get in his cell and attacked him with a cup with a spike attached to it.

Brett had to have half his ear sewn back on. After three years on the inside, Brett said he began to try and sort himself out. He began reading lots of books, started mediating, and found religion.

“It started making me a better person, I think,” he said. He says he left all violence behind and instead focussed on educating himself, becoming a devout Muslim, and generally trying to atone for the sins of his past.

Brett was released in 2021, and now volunteers at the Salvation Army while he also creates rap music in his free time.

“It’s really changed my life, I feel as though I’ve left my past life behind me," he added. I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes, but nothing that shook me to the core like what happened to Adam.

“I have it on my conscience, he would come back to me every night when i was in bed. I am trying to repent and do something positive to try and make up for what I did that night.”

During the original court case at Manchester Crown Court, the judge heard the killing was sparked by a dispute over a spilled drink.

In CCTV footage seized from the bar, Brett was seen being restrained by his girlfriend as he tried to launch into an attack on Adam, who was attempting to protect a woman he had met earlier in the evening. At one stage Brett grabbed a glass to use as a weapon, but this was taken from him by his girlfriend.

In an attempt to calm the argument down, the pub owner asked Adam to leave, which he did without fuss or argument. He walked down the road towards a nearby taxi, but was followed out of the pub by Brett.

As Adam was talking to the taxi driver Brett launched into an attack, punching him hard to the head with a single blow.

Adam immediately collapsed and was left unconscious on the pavement. He never regained consciousness and he died in hospital a few hours later.