Son pays tribute to dad who died after assault outside pub in Grimsby's Rutland Street

TRIBUTES have been paid to a "happy and hard-working" grandfather who has died following a serious assault in Grimsby.

Darren Barton, 46, passed away at Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital on Wednesday night after being left fighting for his life following an incident in Rutland Street, on Saturday.

His son John Barton, 23, of Cleethorpes, said: "It still doesn't seem real that he has gone.

"You never expect to be burying your dad when you are my age.

"He was always happy and laughing and never had a bad day.

"He never said a bad word about anybody."

Darren, of Scartho Top, was born and raised in Grimsby and attended Chelmsford School.

After leaving, he trained as a scaffolder and remained in the industry for the rest of his career.

He was working for Centex, at South Ferriby, before he died.

John added: "He was a hard-working man.

"It was very important to him that he worked and scaffolding was all he ever wanted to do.

"He never had a day off in his life, he would always go in even if he was feeling ill.

"He travelled a lot for work and the job was demanding so he was usually tired when he came home, but he loved spending time with the family when he could."

Darren had two sons and two grandchildren.

John added: "He used to like taking our two children out for meals and he would always treat them."

As reported, Nathan Newland, 27, of no fixed address, appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges of causing grievous bodily harm to Darren, as well as charges of production of cannabis and cultivation of cannabis.

John added: "Nobody knows for sure what happened on that night and we are trusting the police to make sure that justice is done.

"The whole family would like to thank everybody for their messages of condolence, it is touching to know that so many people care."

Darren also leaves behind his nephew Stuart Carrington, sister, mum, dad and nanna.

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said a Home Office post mortem examination was due to take place yesterday to establish the cause of death.

She added: "Family liaison officers are supporting the family of the victim."

The Crown Prosecution Service will now decide whether to alter the charge Mr Newland is facing in relation to the assault.

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