A decision is awaited from the Attorney General's office in the case of a chef who may face a manslaughter charge.

Bruce Hill was jailed for four years for causing grievous bodily harm to Norman McErlean by slamming his fold-away bed against the wall while he lay in it at Oxford's Night Shelter.

The assault on June 5, last year, crushed 56-year-old Mr McErlean's spinal cord and left him tetraplegic.

Following the attack, he received 24-hour care at a nursing home in Aylesbury, and was in and out of the town's Stoke Mandeville Hospital suffering complications.

He died on May 31. Police compiled a case of manslaughter against Hill following Mr McErlean's death.

Papers were submitted to the CPS at the start of July. Permission is required from the Attorney General for further action as it would mean Hill would be prosecuted twice.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office said: "We have received a request for the Attorney General's consent for a second prosecution.

"We have written back to the CPS, asking for further information."

She was unable to give a date by which a decision would be made.

Hill, 46, was convicted of causing GBH in February, but not the more serious offence of GBH with intent.

He could now face a charge of manslaughter.