POLICE have charged a 15-year-old boy with manslaughter following the death of a Southampton man.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the third youth to be charged with the manslaughter of Peter Ramsey, from Millbrook, who died after suffering serious head injuries.

He made a brief appearance at Southampton Youth Court.

A 13-year-old boy and another 15-year-old boy, who also cannot be named, have already been charged with manslaughter.

The development comes in the investigation by detectives that was launched after Mr Ramsey, 40, was injured following an alleged confrontation with a group of youths.

Mr Ramsey, a Canadian national who has two children in his home country, allegedly became involved in a scuffle with a group of youths as he walked home from the Tesco Express store in Wimpson Lane with his partner Victoria Lewis.

He was helped to the couple's Green Park Road home after the altercation but was later taken to hospital to have a blood clot removed from his brain. He never regained consciousness.

In paying tribute to her partner, Miss Lewis described Mr Ramsey, an artist, as "a gentle giant and hopeless romantic".

Police launched a high-profile investigation following Mr Ramsey's death on October 13 and subsequently arrested six youths who were questioned in connection with their inquiries.

A police spokesman said that all the other youths arrested in connection with Mr Ramsey's death had been released with no further action being anticipated.