Man jailed over footballer's one-punch death

Mckenzie Dicicco was jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday

A man has been jailed for six years and eight months after he killed a footballer with a single punch to the head in an unprovoked attack.

Mckenzie Dicicco, 22, of Belgravia Gardens in Middlesbrough, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter on 6 June.

James Hitchcock, 32, from Cottingham in East Yorkshire, who played for Barton Town FC, was struck from behind after being targeted by Dicicco at York Station during a night out with friends on 15 December. He died in hospital.

Mr Hitchcock's wife April said she had been left with an "unexplainable grief" as he was killed just before he was about to spend his first Christmas as a father.

In a witness statement read out in court, she said: "It has been seven months since our hearts were broken and we cannot comprehend he is not here.

"I'm now a widow, lost and alone as the love of my life and best friend was so selfishly taken from me.

"James has missed out on watching his son's first birthday. I feel an unexplainable grief having to raise him alone while in survival mode."

His friend James Williamson, who was there with him when he was attacked, said the "regret and guilt of being there on that night will stay with him forever".

His family said after his sentencing that Mr Hitchcock "was, and is still, loved by many, and we know that his memory will live on through our son, family and friends, the football community, and in our hearts".

On the day of the attack, Mr Hitchcock had travelled to York from Cottingham to watch a football game with a few friends.

Dicicco had travelled with his girlfriend and two of their friends from Middlesbrough, and they went to various bars.

CCTV footage shown in court showed their group being thrown out of a bar called Thor's and they then went back to the railway station, where a security guard said he was "very drunk and aggressive".

James Hitchcock was married and had one child

At 20:17 GMT, Mr Hitchcock and his friends arrived at the station and appeared in "good spirits".

One of his friends pointed to the defendant who was sat on a bench with his group nearby and words were exchanged between them.

Mr Hitchcock tried to calm down Dicicco and even put his arm around the defendant's neck to calm him.

Mr Hitchcock's friends stayed in Sainsbury's as they waited for the coast to be clear and then went to the Burger King at the station.

'Cowardly, deliberate and vicious attack'

Prosecutor Paul Greaney said Dicicco was "highly agitated" and when his train was delayed by about 10 minutes, he went back over to Burger King.

He said he then punched the right side of the back of Mr Hitchcock's head in a "pre-meditated attack".

The court heard that he got a fracture to his skull and brain damage when he fell to the floor after being punched, while the blow to his head tore an artery and caused a haemorrhage.

Dicicco then walked away, disposed of his jumper and ended up getting an Uber back to Middlesbrough, fleeing the scene. He was then arrested.

Defencing Dicicco, Nicholas Lumley told the court he had provided no character witnesses as the defendant knew it was "his fault and nobody else's".

"He does not blame anyone else or even alcohol- although it might not have happened without it," he said.

Judge Guy Kearl said: "It was a cowardly, deliberate and vicious attack on a man who had no chance to defend or brace himself.

"James was the life and soul of everything he did, he brightened up the room and was calm and gentle."

Mr Hitchcock made more than 250 appearances as a goalkeeper for Bridlington Town before moving to Barton Town FC.

Barton Town said after his death that the club was "devastated".

Dicicco was also a non-league footballer and had played at Thornaby, Northallerton and Pickering.

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