Man jailed to five years for killer punch

Nathan Newland, 27, who had attacked another man in similar circumstances three years previously but who had survived, assaulted Darren Barton outside a Grimsby pub in August where they had both been drinking.

The father of two fell back onto concrete, hitting his head and suffering a catastrophic brain injury. He died four days later in hospital.

Mr Barton was caught on CCTV extending his hand in friendship to Newland - who then punched him to the head with a right-handed blow.

Newland, who has 13 previous convictions, made no attempt to alert anyone to the fact the 46-year-old had fallen and hit his head, so medical help was not immediately called for.

Jeremy Evans, Crown Advocate, CPS Yorkshire and Humberside said: “More chilling still is the fact that this is not the first time the defendant has committed an unprovoked act of violence; in 2011, he committed a very similar unprovoked attack, leaving his victim unconscious and unattended.

“Fortunately in that case, the results were not fatal.

“But Newland chose to learn no lessons from this incident, and he went on to offend again, this time with tragic consequences.”

The court also heard how in 2005 he and another person terrorised two people at an address; one had their eyebrows shaved off while another was left with a broken jaw.

Mr Barton’s mother Carol described the heartbreak of sitting by her son’s hospital bedside, watching him take his last breath.

A family statement added: “We are totally devastated at losing Darren, the pain is unbearable and the grief is overwhelming. “We have to try and live with it. The whole family is affected and always will be.”

Newland, of Midfield Road, Humberston, was jailed at Hull Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter.