Six years for street thug who killed former Queen’s banker with single punch

A JOBLESS thug has been jailed for six years for killing former Queen’s banker Oliver Dearlove with a single punch in an “unprovoked and gratuitous” act.

Trevor Timon, 31, had a history of violence before the attack on the “kind and gentle” 30-year-old in Blackheath, south-east London, last August. The defendant, of Plumstead, south-east London, had admitted manslaughter and was cleared of murder following an Old Bailey trial.

He was handed a jail term of six years with a further five years on extended licence as he was considered a “significant risk” to the public in the future. Mr Dearlove and his friends were on their way home from a university reunion when they struck up a friendly chat with a group of women in the street who had been out celebrating a birthday with Timon.

Timon demanded to know what they were discussing and told his victim “If you don’t get out of my face I will knock you out”, the court heard.

He then delivered a powerful left-hand punch to Mr Dearlove’s head, sending him to the ground and knocking him out.

A passing motorist stopped and gave him first aid but the victim died in hospital within 24 hours of the attack.

Afterwards, Timon fled to Ireland but returned days later and handed himself in to police, after confiding to one of the women “I’m scared, seriously, proper”.

Judge Mark Dennis QC told Timon: “This was a senseless death that occurred as a result of an act borne out of a flaw in your character which in the past has seen you display unnecessary violent conduct to others when, for reasons best known to you, you have become annoyed or wound yourself up.”

The judge added: “Oliver Dearlove was a young man of fine character with a long and promising future ahead of him. His loss in such senseless circumstances has, as the court has heard, caused untold misery for his family and those close to him.

“Many lives have been turned upside down.”