Man in 40s beaten to death by gang outside McDonald's in Manchester

A man was beaten to death in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester after he was set upon by a gang outside McDonald's. The victim, who was in his 40s, was assaulted shortly before 10.50pm on Wednesday (27 July) on Warrington Street.

He sustained multiple injuries in the attack and was rushed to hospital where he died the next day. Police believe he was jumped by a group of men who had earlier been eating in the restaurant.

Parts of Ashton-under-Lyne's town centre, including Warrington Street, are currently closed whilst officers carry out further enquiries while a Home Office post-mortem examination and formal identification are yet to take place.

A murder inquiry has been launched and detective Superintendent Jonathan Chadwick, from GMP's Major Incident Team,appealed for witnesses to come forward with information.

"Officers are currently working to establish exactly what happened last night and find those responsible for this attack," he said.

"The investigation is in its early stages but we believe the attack started outside McDonald's on Warrington Street and may have involved a group of young men who had been in the restaurant earlier.

"We know there were people in the area at the time of this assault and I would appeal directly to them to come forward to police with any information they have, no matter how trivial they think it might be. Your information could prove vital for this investigation, so please call us."

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call police on 101 quoting incident number 2541 of 27/07/16 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.