Drinker killed pal while out marking the death of mum
ATTACKER JAILED AFTER COURT SEES SHOCKING FOOTAGE OF VICTIM, 51, BEING PUNCHED
A MAN out commemorating the anniversary of his mother’s death ended up killing a friend after he repeatedly punched him during a row at a pub.
Dad-of-two Nicholas Sullivan was knocked out by Craig Cropper, who hit him ‘square in the face.’
The blow ‘propelled him immediately backwards’ on to the wooden floor.
While he lay unconscious in the Georgia Brown pub in Hindley, Wigan, Mr Sullivan, known affectionately as ‘Baggo’ to friends and family, suffered a cardiac arrest.
He was repeatedly resuscitated, but suffered further heart attacks and brain damage. Mr Sullivan, 51, was declared dead in hospital a few hours later. Cropper, 29, has now been jailed after admitting manslaughter at an earlier hearing.
Liverpool Crown Court was shown graphic footage of the incident, at the Market Street pub on January 20. People in the public gallery gasped as they watched Cropper deliver a flurry of blows.
The court heard that earlier in the evening, Mr Sullivan had acted as a peacemaker when Cropper got into an argument with another man at the Last Orders pub. Cropper had been out commemorating the sixth anniversary of his mother’s death and Mr Sullivan, who was his dad’s best friend, was part of the group.
Cropper later approached Mr Sullivan at the bar at the Georgia Brown and they rowed, the court heard. Mr Sullivan hit Cropper on the chin, but with little force.
Cropper then ‘delivered in excess of 10 punches in quick succession towards [Mr Sullivan’s] head as both men were restrained by others in a huddled group.’
Bystanders desperately performed CPR on Mr Sullivan before paramedics arrived.
When he got home, Cropper told his partner that Mr Sullivan had hit him, hurting his lip, so he retaliated. He contacted police, saying he hit the victim once. Cropper described Mr Sullivan as a friend and that he was ‘truly sorry for what had happened.’
Mark Rhind, defending, said Cropper, who has two convictions for battery and common assault, was a friend of Mr Sullivan and visited him when he had been in hospital.
“In other circumstances he would be sitting in the public gallery with the family no doubt angry and upset at the loss of a decent man in a senseless way,” he added.
“He had been at the bar with money in hand to buy Mr Sullivan a drink, but Mr Sullivan was still upset and when he hit him Cropper accepted he overreacted.
“It was over in only a few seconds. In those few seconds everything changed; sadly Mr Sullivan lost his life and Craig Cropper’s life is changed forever.”
Cropper, of Arundel Street, was originally charged with murder, which he denied. His plea to manslaughter on the grounds of lack of intent to cause serious harm, was accepted by the Crown.
He was jailed for four years and eight months.