Kyle O'Callaghan (Image: Crimestoppers)
Last Updated: 2 minutes ago
A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after he punched a father outside a Wetherspoons in Ebbw Vale, causing fatal injuries.
Kyle O’Callaghan showed no emotion and remained silent as he was led to the cells at Newport Crown Court yesterday (Friday, May 15).
Marcus Carpenter, 37, died in hospital four days after the assault outside the Picture House pub on Friday, February 20.
The attack
The court heard that Mr Carpenter had been inside the pub with friends on a busy Friday evening when O’Callaghan approached him. O’Callaghan asked who he was before inviting him to step outside.
Prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins told the court that one of Mr Carpenter’s friends observed no apparent hostility between the pair at that stage.
Shortly afterwards, O’Callaghan came back inside and told those present that Mr Carpenter was not moving. CCTV played during the hearing captured O’Callaghan striking his victim twice.
Aftermath
When one of Mr Carpenter’s friends confronted O’Callaghan about what had happened, he fled the area. A £10,000 Crimestoppers appeal was subsequently launched to help trace him.
O’Callaghan, of no fixed abode, was eventually arrested and charged with manslaughter.
Sentencing
He had previously pleaded guilty to the charge at Newport Crown Court on Friday, March 27.
Peter Donnison, defending, told the court: “The defendant accepts his conduct and has pleaded guilty to that.”
Judge Daniel Williams noted that CCTV of the incident showed O’Callaghan had punched Mr Carpenter and caused his death.
O’Callaghan was handed a 10-year-and-six-month prison sentence along with an extended licence period of four years.
