Police in Lancashire have issued a statement confirming that they have launched a murder investigation following an incident which resulted in the death of lifelong Walsall fan, Ryan Harvey.
22-year-old Ryan was found with a serious head injury after Police had been called to an incident on Central Drive in Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.
Responding to reports of people fighting in the area, Police and other emergency services arrived at the scene where Ryan was found before transferring him to the Royal Preston Hospital.
Sadly, Ryan never recovered from his injuries and was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning.
In a statement, released shortly after Ryan's death, his family sought to pay tribute to Ryan, they said; "A family has lost their little boy due to an incident that happened on Saturday in Blackpool. Our little Ryan was a bubbly lad who would do anything for anyone.
"Ryan was a lifelong Walsall FC fan who lived and breathed football. We are absolutely heartbroken and would appreciate some privacy at this time to grieve for our loss."
Police have since confirmed that a 32-year-old man from Fleetwood has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody, whilst 36-year-old Paul Atherton was arrested at the scene and has been charged with Section 18 Wounding, Section 47 Wounding, two Section 39 Assaults and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Atherton appeared before Blackpool magistrates on Monday and was remanded into custody.
Temporary DCI Rach Higson, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said; "This altercation has led to a young man losing his life and my thoughts are very much with Ryan’s family and friends at this time.
"We have a dedicated team of officers assigned to this investigation and we are determined to establish exactly what occurred and identify everybody involved. Although we have now made two arrests our enquiries are very much ongoing.
"I would ask anybody with information or CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage which could assist our enquiries to come forward as soon as possible. This happened on a busy street in the middle of the day where there were lots of people and traffic around."
Anyone with information or footage is asked to email [email protected] or call 101, quoting log number 1127 of the 25th June.
After news of Ryan's passing circulated online, his friends and family have shared various tributes whilst a GoFundMe page has already raised more than £3,000 to help his family pay funeral costs.
If you would like to contribute to the fund mentioned above, please visit gofundme.com/f/ryan-harvey.