Bouncers deny causing patron`s death

A hotel patron died after bouncers held him on the ground and used a headlock to
restrain him, a court has been told.
William Armando Amaya, 25, died on the footpath outside the Royal Exchange Hotel in
Toowong in May 2006, the Supreme Court in Brisbane was told on Wednesday.
The court was told Mr Amaya and a friend had been drinking at the hotel to celebrate
a new job when they became involved in a fight in the beer garden.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court bouncers Dean Barry Christopher Tapin, 42, of
Manly West, Vaughan Thomas, 29, of Fortitude Valley, and Richard Allan James, 41, of
Norman Park, intervened, escorted the men from the pub and held a struggling Mr
Amaya face down on the ground.
It's alleged Thomas had his arm around Mr Amaya's neck and James held his feet,
while Tapin lay across Mr Amaya's body and restrained his arms behind his back.
Mr Fuller said Mr Amaya - who was morbidly obese and had an existing heart problem -
soon stopped breathing and lapsed into unconsciousness.
He was pronounced dead shortly after.
"The crown case is that this man was restrained and that the restraint caused his
death," Mr Fuller said.
Tapin, Thomas and James have all pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
The trial, before Justice James Douglas, is expected to run for four weeks.