‘I STILL GRIEVE FOR CONNOR’

THE devastated uncle of a teenager killed by a single punch has spoken about his heartbreak at losing his nephew. Connor Saunders – a pal of X Factor star Frankie Cocozza – died on April 14, 2012, when he was struck after getting into an argument with a group of teenagers.

Now Jamie Denyer, from Swansea, has revealed how his family’s lives were changed forever by the 19-year-old’s death.

“I got a call from my sister at half one in the morning saying ‘You have got to come to Brighton,’ which is where I’m from,” the father-of-three said. “She said I had to get in the car because [Connor] had been attacked. I thought he had been just beaten up but was in the best place.”

It took the 39-year-old until 6am to get to the hospital.

“Going into a hospital is one thing but going into an intensive care unit is something completely different,” Jamie said. “When I got there the waiting room was packed with friends and acquaintances.”

His family were with Connor and the situation was worse than Jamie had thought.

“When the doctors declared him forever asleep then we knew we were in a battle for the rest of our lives,” he said.

After Connor’s death a 14-year-old boy was charged with his manslaughter, but was cleared after a trial at Hove Crown Court.

“He suffered a blunt force trauma, which is a rupture of the brain stem.”

The court was told by prosecutor Oliver Dunkin that Connor went “down like a domino” after he was hit outside a Tesco Express in Rottingdean, Sussex, at 11pm. He never regained consciousness and died on the morning of April 15, 2012.

“I made a promise to Connor when he was on his death bed,” Jamie said. “I told him ‘I’m going to look after your family as best as I can.’”

The last picture taken of Connor shows him in his Peacehaven and Telscombe FC kit, who he had played for that day. Connor hoped to have a career in sport.

Jamie admitted he had not come to terms with the youngster’s death.

“He was full of life and he loved life,” said Jamie.

After his nephew’s death Jamie began giving talks in schools and prisons about how one punch could kill.