Fight victim had planned trip home

Tragedy: Mother of former Highland man ‘feels sick’ when she thinks of his death

A man who died after a fight outside a bar in Canada had been planning to bring his son home to Scotland to teach him about his Highland roots.

David Bain’s mother revealed yesterday that she still feels sick every time she thinks about his death more than a year on.

Janet Bain is now having to face up to the ordeal of giving a victim impact statement when the man accused of killing him goes on trial in a few weeks.

Christopher Kameka, 27, of Belleville, Ontario, is accused of his manslaughter.

Mrs Bain has been told there was a fight outside the bar Vic’s Place in Belleville and her son had hit his head. He was declared dead in hospital.

The 29- year- old had lived in Canada since the age of 15, when his family emigrated there from Lybster in Caithness.

Mrs Bain said the former Wick High School pupil wanted to take his son, Liam, now aged four, back to the Highlands to show him where he grew up. Shortly before his death he had also set up his own business as a joiner.

Speaking from her home in Canada, Mrs Bain said: “I'm hoping and praying that Kameka pleads guilty so we don’t have to go through the trial.

“Every time I talk about it I get sick. It’s been a long process”

“David died in the arms of his best friend and to put him through that again would be so hard.

“I hope justice will be done. David had such dreams. He wanted to take his little boy back to Lybster to show him where he went to school and the cliffs he wasn't supposed to climb.

“We talk to him about different memories we have. He’s a beautiful little boy. He just started kindergarten this fall and is loving it. David would have been so proud.

“It’s been hard every day. They say it gets easier but I don’t think so. Not yet anyway.

“Everytime I talk about it I get sick. It’s been a long, drawn-out process.”

Mrs Bain said she was not planning to attend the trial until the closing stages, when she expects to deliver a victim impact statement.

She said David’s brothers Jody and Jamie and his girlfriend Candice Matthews would be in court, and also hope to tell the jury how Mr Bain’s death has affected them.

Ms Matthews paid tribute to him on an online memorial page on the first anniversary of his death on July 31. She wrote: “Our little man talks about you daily, almost hourly, still I'm not sure if you're talking to him because by the way he makes it sound you're still teaching him all the things he needs to be the best man ever like his daddy.

“I love you and hope for that day when I can see you again.”

As we l l as the manslaughter charge, Kameka is also accused of two counts of breach of probation.

He has appeared at several court hearings since he was arrested shortly after Mr Bain’s death.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario said: “This matter has been adjourned to October 11, for pre-trial motions.

“A date for a judge and jury trial has been set for November 18.”

VICTIM: David Bain died outside a bar in Belleville, Canada, on July 31, last year