David Thompson died after he was attacked by Brandon Brooks after a night out in Creswell on the evening of Friday, January 26.
Earlier, on the same night Brooks and his friend Ben Hart had an altercation with another group. In an effort to find one of the men involved, the pair picked up another friend Michael McCann and drove round the town in the early hours of the following day in an effort to locate him.
David, who happened to be wearing very similar clothes to the man the trio were looking for, was spotted by the group in Elmton Road – where Brooks jumped out of the van driven by Hart and punched him once to the head.
David collapsed to floor but, despite being rushed to hospital, he died on 15 February after spending 19 days in a coma.
The three were arrested and initially charged with murder – but later pleaded guilty to the following offences. Brooks 24, of Fairfield Close, Nether Langwith pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hart, 20, of Skinner Street, Creswell pleaded guilty to assisting an offender. And McCann, 38, of Markham Road, Chesterfield, pleaded guilty to Section 4 Public Order.
The trio were sentenced today (August 21) at Derby Crown Court where Brooks was jailed for five years, Hart was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and McCann was jailed for 12 weeks.
In a victim impact statement for the court, Mr Thompson’s daughter Emma described the pain felt by his family and friends following his loss.
She said: “The events have shattered our lives, leaving my brothers and I without a father and my son without their grandad. His loss has been felt far and wide throughout our wider family and friends.
“I still cannot accept that my dad won’t come home one day. As much as I know that he is dead, I fully expect him to walk through my door or to call me on the phone.
“My mind is filled constantly with thoughts of my dad’s death how he felt at the time he was hurt and that he was left there on the side of the road, injured, in pain and alone.
“The loss of David has saddened a lot of my friends as well; many of them are still finding it difficult to accept his absence. When I speak with our friends, a lot of them express the feeling that they have lost their one genuine friend; for a lot of them, David was that person.
The detective inspector in charge of Mr. Thompson’s death, Detective Inspector Maria Pleace, stated: “During this extremely trying time, our thoughts are with David’s loved ones.” The senseless acts of Michael McCann, Ben Hart, and Brandon Brooks had disastrous and irreversible effects.
This instance is a sobering reminder of the truly terrible consequences that might arise from a little incident of needless violence. No
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