Paul Mason: Family launch petition over killer's sentence

Paul Mason was attacked shortly after leaving The Ivy restaurant in December 2020

The sister of a man who died after an unprovoked attack in London's West End has launched a petition against his killer's sentence.

Bank chief executive Paul Mason, 52, suffered head injuries in the attack outside The Ivy in December 2020 and died six months later.

Steven Allan, 34, from Hook in Hampshire, was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail.

Rachel Mason has called for the Court of Appeal to reconsider the sentence.

During the trial, the Old Bailey heard Allan had attacked Mr Mason, who was the CEO of Qatar National Bank, having mistakenly believed he had stolen a mobile phone.

He was found not guilty of the more serious charge of murder, but was given a prison term having admitted a charge of manslaughter.

Rachel Mason said her brother's death "wasn't an accident - somebody had done this and I had to watch my brother die"

Ms Mason said her family fear Allan may not have to spend that long in jail for the killing and have launched a petition calling for a longer sentence.

"(Allan) punched him multiple times in the head, killed my brother and he's probably going to spend just over a year in prison," she explained.

"How does that work? That's not justice."

In mitigation, Steven Allan's barrister William Boyce KC said the killer's "remorse" for what happened had affected every aspect of his life

Ms Mason told the BBC her brother was her "best friend" and "confidante", and said her family had been left "traumatised and devastated" by his death.

She added her children were now "petrified that I'm going to be randomly attacked in the street and they're going to lose another family member".

The attack happened just before the second Covid-19 lockdown meaning Mr Mason's parents were the only people who could visit their son while he was in intensive care in a coma and only because he was not expected to survive.

He was later allowed home following surgery but suffered a brain bleed, multiple strokes and catastrophic brain damage, and was found unresponsive. The family later made the decision to turn off life support.

"He wasn't ill, it wasn't an accident - somebody had done this and I had to watch my brother die, waste away in front of me. It's hideous," Ms Mason said.

Ms Mason said her other brother Simon "turned to alcohol to numb the pain" of Paul Mason's death and also died

As well as asking the Court of Appeal to reconsider Allan's sentence, Ms Mason said her petition was "appealing to the attorney general to review this case and bigger picture. We want the manslaughter sentencing guidelines reviewed".

"He was all about doing the right thing and for me, getting justice for Paul and for my family is about doing the right thing," she added.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have received a request for this sentence to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

"The law officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and make a decision."

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