Dad left his friend to die, then went to a brothel and bought a car

Nathan Bagley, who was planning to move to Australia to start a new life with his girlfriend, died from a fractured skull after being punched by Adam Stott, 27, falling backwards and hitting his head while outside a bar.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Stott, of Agbrigg Road, Wakefield, left Mr Bagley in the street and went to a brothel following the attack in the early hours of Sunday, October 17. He handed himself in the following day after hearing that Mr Bagley, from Brincliffe Edge Road, Sheffield, had died.

Sentencing him, Judge Roger Keen QC said: "Nathan Bagley was a loving, decent man and it is clear that he did nothing to aggravate or provoke the incident.

"You have destroyed a good life and permanently damaged that man's family and friends.

"Despite the fact that he gave every indication that he didn't wish to get involved in violence, you swung one blow that missed before inflicting the fatal one - all of this in a public place."

The court heard that Stott became angry after Mr Bagley allegedly called him a 'liar' outside DQ bar in Fitzwilliam Street and followed him to a taxi.

When Mr Bagley tried to run away, Stott attempted to punch him once and missed, but then punched him again.

Prosecuting, Elizabeth Martin said: "A combination of the slight incline in the road, the fact that Nathan Bagley was walking backwards and the punch resulted in Mr Bagley falling backwards, causing his head to hit the hard surface very heavily.

"He was unconscious from that point and never regained consciousness. Despite the best efforts of medical staff, some eight hours later he was pronounced dead."

Stott didn't offer Mr Bagley any help at the scene, Mrs Martin said, and went to Caesar's massage parlour before getting a taxi home.

The following day he behaved "entirely as normal" and even bought a car, before handing himself in at West Bar Police Statopm after seeing reports that Mr Bagley had died. In police interviews he said he had "no idea" how much he had drunk and but had been drinking double vodka shots.

In a witness statement read to the court, Mr Bagley's father Andrew Bagley said that himself, his wife Estelle and his eldest son Gavin were struggling to come to terms with Nathan's death.

He said: "He could not have picked on a gentler, kinder person than our son, who would never have fought back.

"A huge regret is that we will never have grandchildren, which is something we were looking forward to. We would have been fantastic grandparents and Nathan would have been a fantastic father, but that has all been taken away by some mindless thug.

"Nathan was a gregarious young man with a dry sense of humour and a big beaming smile. He was handsome, thoughtful, loving and intelligent."

Defending, Judith Seaborne said that Stott was "sorry, deeply sorry" for the attack.

Detective Superintendent Colin Fisher, the senior investigating officer in the case, said after the sentencing: "Nathan was an innocent man, like any other member of the public who visited the DQ bar that night. He just happened to gain the attention of Adam Stott.

"This was a sickening attack, made worse as there was simply no motive whatsoever."

Jeni Harvey