A MERSEYSIDE man was convicted of killing his partner at her home after she danced with a younger man on a night out.

Brian Davies hit Claire Hanley following a stormy evening in Liverpool city centre on November 4 last year.

Yesterday, at Liverpool Crown Court, a majority of 11-1 ruled Davies, 49, had not murdered Ms Hanley at her home in Segrim Road, Huyton.

But they decided he had killed her and convicted him of manslaughter.

Relatives of Ms Hanley wept after the verdict when Davies, of Fincham Road, Huyton, was remanded in custody and the hearing adjourned for sentencing on June 11.

Judge Gerald Clifton said he would now consider if a manslaughter verdict was based upon the assertion that Davies had not meant to kill his partner, or if he had attacked her after provocation.

During the trial, a jury heard how Davies hit Ms Hanley with such force that he caused bleeding to her brain.

The court heard the pair had argued after a night out in Liverpool and Ms Hanley got a taxi home to Huyton on her own.

Mr Davies followed in another taxi and they argued together at around 12.30am.

He admitted slapping her twice across the face to “calm her down”. Davies’s son, who was babysitting Ms Hanley’s two children, aged 13 and eight, came downstairs and saw her lying on the couch mumbling her words and vomiting.

He claims he thought she was drunk and went to bed, but the following morning Ms Hanley was found dead on the sofa.

The victim’s distraught mother, Kathy, told of how her daughter called her on her mobile, shortly after 12.30am, to describe how she had “been battered”.