Thug kills 'timid' man with one punch thinking he insulted girlfriend's karaoke singing
Share:
A thug has killed a man at a karaoke night after believing the "timid" victim had insulted his girlfriend's singing. Christopher Cooper punched Kelvin Evans once to the head outside The Station Hotel, Gorseinon on May 26 last year after feeling "slighted" over his partner’s karaoke singing. Mr Evans was knocked unconscious and was taken to hospital, where he died a month later. Cooper had later boasted of the attack and branded his fists as "bad boys".
The 39-year-old, from Maritime Quarter, Swansea, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years at Swansea Crown Court on Friday. Catherine Tracy Francis, 54, Cooper's partner, was found guilty of assisting an offender and sentenced to two years in jail.
Cooper shouted at Judge Geraint Walters as he was escorted from the courtroom after sentencing, yelling: "Go f*** yourself – how’s that. You’re a dickhead." He and Francis had been drinking at The Station Hotel in May last year, with Cooper feeling "slighted" by Mr Evans and his partner, who had shared a look while Francis waas singing karaoke.
Francis was aware of the assault but did not call the police and analysis of her phone showed that she had searched for hotels immediately after the attack and the pair had packed a car to leave the area. Police arrested them the next day at a service station in South Cornelly.
Judge Walters said: “Your victim, Kelvin Evans, was a much-loved member of the Evans family and the wider community. A man without an angry bone in his body. A timid, fun-loving family man admired by all. It was a cowardly punch, delivered from behind, totally unexpected and one, inevitably, that would result in really serious injury if the head were to strike a hard surface.
