Essex punch attack: Brodie Groome sentenced to 13 years in prison

Brodie Groome, 27, threw a punch after a late-night confrontation between two groups in Vineyard Street, Colchester, in August last year.

Steven Warburton, 46, was struck and fell to the ground, suffering a fractured skull when his head hit the floor.

He died weeks later in hospital as a result of a cardiac arrest.

Groome, of Sydney Street, Brightlingsea, denied manslaughter and said he was acting in self-defence, but was convicted after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Sentencing him to 13 years imprisonment, Judge Martyn Levett said: “I am able to conclude, as did the jury, that all Steven Warburton did was assist his wife to her feet.

“There was no threat, no move forward by him towards you.”

Groome was labelled “the aggressor”, who stepped towards Mr Warburton as he bent down to help his wife.

An argument and scuffle had broken out between Groome’s friends and the Warburton family, who were out celebrating a wedding anniversary.

Judge Levett said mobile phone footage of the disturbance, combined with CCTV and witness accounts given in court gave a “very clear picture of what happened”.

Groome, of Sydney Street, Brightlingsea, denied manslaughter and said he was acting in self-defence, but was convicted after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court

After throwing the punch, Groome was heard to say to Mr Warburton’s son: “You hit me bruv, so I banged your boy.”

Judge Levett added: “You clearly targeted the one person who was doing nothing during the melee in order to teach [Mr Warburton’s son] a lesson, choosing an easy target for your violence.”

He said Mr Warburton was a “family man”, whose death had caused devastation.

He said: “Despite being in hospital for three weeks before he died, as this was during the second lockdown, [his daughter] was unable to visit or say goodbye to her father due to the restrictions imposed.”

Craig Rush, mitigating, said Groome had thrown a single punch “in circumstances which had catastrophic consequences”.

He said his client had shown genuine remorse for causing Mr Warburton’s death “from the get go”.

The scene following the incident in Vineyard Street

Judge Levett moved to rebuff criticism of sentences typically dished out for cases of one-punch manslaughter.

He said he is bound to follow guidelines imposed by the Sentencing Council in 2018 for such offences.

He added the forum for any criticism of the length of the sentence is in Parliament rather than in the criminal courts.

“I am required to apply the law as it is today, not as the public might wish it to be,” he said.

“It is widely recognised that sentencing cases involving death from one punch, such as this, is one of the most difficult and demanding tasks any judge in the crown court is called upon to undertake.

“Any commentary about the sentence I pass must be made in its proper context and only after it is appreciated I must follow the law and Sentencing Council’s guidance.

“The forum for criticism about the length and type of sentence is in Parliament, not in court.”

He found Groome’s offence was aggravated by his list of 18 previous convictions for 24 offences, which mainly consisted of offences of violence, and the fact he was under the influence of alcohol.