Man sentenced after Cotswold pub punch death

Liam McKane admitted the manslaughter of Colin Leslie

A man has been sentenced after admitting the manslaughter of a man who died after being punched unconscious outside a pub.

Liam McKane, 54, punched Colin Leslie outside The Kingsbridge Inn, Bourton-on-the-Water, on 28 August 2021.

51-year-old Mr Leslie, from Cheltenham, was later put in a coma but died on 5 September 2021.

McKane was sentenced to 45 months in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

Bristol Crown Court heard that both Colin Leslie, a Royal Mail employee, and Liam McKane of Uxbridge, Middlesex, were drinking with their respective groups at the Kingsbridge Inn in Bourton-on-the-Water on 28 August 2021.

McKane's group got louder and louder. Witnesses said Mr Leslie told the group to quieten down, telling them "enough" and swearing at them as he told them to shut up.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Leslie's partner, Lisa Averiss, headed outside to speak to a group of friends and lit a cigarette.

Colin Leslie saw there was an argument between Ms Averiss and one of McKane's friends.

Skull fracture

He left the pub for just nine seconds and pushed past McKane's partner, Sharon, to make sure his own partner was safe.

McKane went around the side of the group and punched Colin Leslie on the left side of his head.

Mr Leslie fell sideways to the floor where he lay bleeding and unconscious.

He was taken to A&E, where it was discovered that he had suffered a skull fracture, bleeding on the brain and brain-swelling in the attack. He was later put into a coma.

He died on 5 September 2021.

In a victim-impact statement, Mr Leslie's sister, Lucy Jeffrey, who sobbed when her statement was read out, said her brother's death was like "a pain she has never experienced".

"The night you decided to punch my brother and kill him, you punched my mum from the inside too. My mum wanted to be with Colin so much that when she found a lump in her breast, she ignored it," she added.

Colin Leslie was injured in an altercation at the Kingsbridge Inn

Ms Leslie's mother Kathleen later died from cancer.

Before she died, she gave a statement saying that Colin was a "gentle giant... I cry myself to sleep thinking of Colin in that dark cold cemetery. I never got to say goodbye to him. My life is ripped apart."

Sentencing, the judge His Honour Martin Picton said "nothing that happened at the pub that night justified what you did to bring about this tragic state of affairs. You ruined the lives of so many people through your actions that night.

"What happened in this case should be a lesson to others about the use of violence, which is seen too frequently. Colin Leslie did not represent an immediate threat, you did not have to punch an unexpected victim so hard that he hit his head on the ground.

"You have pleaded guilty saying that you were protecting your partner - but you were wrong. The punch was excessive, unnecessary and completely reckless. There are terrible consequences to the choices you made."