Killer’s 14-year sentence over fatal Leeds street attack

David Powell was jailed over the death of 37-year-old Gerard Adeshida in Beeston a decade after killing another man in the same area of the city.

Powell, 27, punched Mr Adeshida in the jaw on Ladypit Lane just after 6pm on August 23 last year

Mr Adeshida fell back and hit his head on the road, causing a skull fracture and fatal brain injury.

Powell, of Clovelly Grove, Beeston, denied manslaughter, claiming he was acting in self-defence, but was unanimously found guilty by the jury at Leeds Crown Court following a trial last December

Mr Adeshida and his identical twin brother Keiron had been drinking strong cider before going out walking in Beeston on the day of the attack.

Powell was driving in his new car with three friends and they were playing loud music.

The jury was told Mr Adeshida swore loudly at the car as it passed as he believed the occupants were making fun of him.

The car slowed and Keiron Adeshida apologised to Powell, but his brother carried on swearing.

Powell stopped the car in the middle of the road, jumped out and approached the brothers with his fists clenched.

Mr Adeshida, who had lived with his twin brother all his life, tried to defuse the situation but Powell remained angry and punched him to the jaw.

Powell had served a three-and-a-half-year sentence for manslaughter for a fatal attack on a man in 2004.

Powell, then aged 17, laid in wait for Kelvin Jukes, 26, as he left a shop in Trentham Street, Beeston, Leeds, after an earlier confrontation during which the older man hit him. Mr Jukes, who had been drinking, tried to run away but Powell caught him and punched him, causing injuries to his left cheek and right eye.

He fell and suffered the fatal head injury, including bleeding around the brain.

Powell also has convictions for domestic violence against former partners.

Mrs Justice McGowan told Powell he must serve a ten-year prison sentence followed by an extended licence period of four years.

She said: “You have a record for offences of violence. It is exceptional and unique in the experience of this court to pass sentence on somebody for a second so-called ‘one-punch’ manslaughter.

“The extraordinary nature of this case is contributed to by the fact that you are still only 27.”

“This was not an unlucky punch thrown in the course of an exchange of blows. This was a deliberate punch thrown at a smaller, weaker man and one from whom you could easily have moved away from and desisted.”

Det Supt Nick Wallen, of West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “Gerard Adeshia’s death tragically illustrates the devastating consequences that throwing just one punch can have.

“His family are devastated over their loss and we hope the significant sentence Powell has received will provide some source of comfort to them.

“It should also serve as a stark reminder to people of the serious consequences that just a moment of violence can have. No matter what the perceived provocation, it is always better to take a deep breath and turn and walk away.”