GLOVES ARE OFF
Boxing champ Danny Green slams soft sentencing of Geelong man in one-punch death
’No wonder the community are f---ing fuming. Oh, and not feeling protected.’
BOXING legend Danny Green has hit out at a light sentence handed to Geelong coward-punch killer Richard Vincec.
Vincec was last week sentenced to eight years in jail after he punched Jaiden Walker, 22, outside a Melbourne bar earlier this year.
Mr Walker hit his head on the road following the punch and died in hospital six days later.
Vincec could be out of jail in five years following the non-parole period set by the Supreme Court.
CHAMPION boxer Danny Green has hit out at a “light” sentence given to a Geelong coward-punch killer.
Last week Richard Vincec was sentenced to eight years in jail after he punched Jaiden Walker, 22, outside a Melbourne bar early this year.
Mr Walker hit his head on the road after the punch on May 6 and did not regain consciousness. He died in hospital six days later.
Vincec could be out of jail in five years, according to the non-parole period set by the Supreme Court.
Vincec this year pleaded guilty to Mr Walker’s manslaughter, which carries a max- imum sentence of 20 years.
Green — who has strongly denounced coward punches across Australia — said the community did not feel protected as a result of the sentence and directed criticism towards the judge who sentenced Vincec.
“If it was up to me and it was my son, I’d want (the person responsible) to pay with his own life and I don’t know many other fathers who wouldn’t feel the same way.
“What is the judicial system doing to make a stand and make an example of people who know that this is the wrong thing?” Mr Green told the Geelong Advertiser.
On social media Green said: “To the person who dealt with this matter: after the police had done all the leg work and handed the perpetrator on a plate to him after he initially bailed out and denied involvement, if this happened to your son and he was killed would you say the same ridiculous . . . comment as you handed down a lighter sentence, concerned (he) would struggle in prison?
“No wonder the community are f------ fuming.
“Oh, and not feeling protected.”
Vincec escaped being jailed for a mandatory 10-year term under Victorian laws introduced to discourage coward punches.
In sentencing remarks, the Supreme Court judge ruling on the case said Vincec appeared to be “truly remorseful” and his prospects for rehabilitation were “very good”. “I have also had regard to your appreciation of the tragic consequences of your actions and the fact that, in the past, you have substantially overcome the difficulties encountered in your youth,” the judge said.
In June, Mr Walker’s dad Jon described his son as a quiet child who always had a smile on his face.
Jon teamed up with then Corio Sporting Club president Nevada Cornwell to speak out against coward punches and spread the message that “violence is never the answer”.
“He was our first born. Our lives changed for the best 22 years ago and now it’s changed again for the worst,” Jon said.
“I was really looking forward to having grandkids and seeing him find true love, but that’s all been ripped away.”
Mr Cornwell said the pair were trying to make young men see that throwing a punch in anger had a ripple effect.