A rock music fan was beaten to death in a ‘rapid and vicious’ attack by three teenagers as he walked home from a gig, a court heard today.
Richard Day, 45, was punched and kicked to the ground by two teenagers aged 16 and one aged 17, shortly after midnight outside a Kebapizza takeaway restaurant in Ipswich, Suffolk, on February 22.
Mr Day was killed after receiving the first punch to his neck which ruptured an artery and caused fatal bleeding around his brain, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
He was initially taken to Ipswich Hospital before being transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where he was pronounced dead.
Richard Day, 45, was punched and kicked to the ground as he walked back home from a gig on February 22
During the case a court heard that the teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, walked away from the scene before returning to Mr Day outside the takeaway restaurant.
The 16-year-old who threw the fatal punch shortly after midnight then started going through Mr Day’s pockets, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones QC said.
When takeaway owner Hoshang Qazikhani asked him what he was doing, he replied, ‘Money, money, money’, she added.
The three teenagers left the scene after Mr Qazikhani called police and were arrested later.
Another worker in the takeaway flagged down a passing police car and two officers tried desperately to revive Mr Day with CPR.
Moments later, a passing ambulance was also stopped and Mr Day was taken to Ipswich Hospital where his heart started beating again.
He was then transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, but died 30 hours after suffering his injuries.
The 16-year-old who punched Mr Day in the neck and allegedly went through his pockets has admitted his manslaughter.
The other two teenagers have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and violent disorder.
Miss Karmy-Jones described Mr Day, who worked as a control engineer for UK Power Networks, as being ‘quiet and unassuming’.
She said he had spent the hours before the attack going to an Ipswich Town match, drinking in a pub and watching two of his brothers Shane and Jake play in their rock band at a pool club.
Mr Day had spent the hours before the attack going to an Ipswich Town match and watching two of his brothers Shane and Jake play in their rock band
Mr Day had been walking outside a Kebapizza takeaway in Ipswich, Suffolk, when he was attacked
CCTV images from the night showed that Mr Day was ‘plainly wobbly’ on his feet as he walked home.
Miss Karmy-Jones said: ‘It is clear that after a day of drinking he was drunk.’
The prosecutor went on to explain that Mr Day turned towards the teenagers as he walked past them, indicating that ‘maybe he heard something or something was said.’
The three teenagers overtook him and ‘there was some kind of verbal exchange’ before they stopped outside the Kebapizza and Mr Day ‘appeared to remonstrate with them’ as he walked past, said Miss Karmy-Jones.
Mr Day carried on down the road and then turned around to walk back to the teenagers 40 seconds after he had passed them, said the prosecutor.
She said that the teenagers stayed outside Kebapizza and lined up in a fighting stance as he approached.
CCTV from the takeaway showed Mr Day barging into the shoulder of one of the 16-year-olds with his chest.
The youth then began punching and kicking him, delivering the fatal blow to his neck, while the others joined him in a ‘pincer movement’, said Miss Karmy-Jones.
She added that two pathologists had found that Mr Day had ‘effectively died in seconds’ after the punch to his neck.
He hit the ground within eight seconds and the teenagers walked away before turning back to where he was ‘lying motionless’ with his glasses broken beside him.
The CCTV in the takeaway later showed the owner going outside as the teenager went through Mr Day’s pockets.
The teenager urged him not to hand over his CCTV images to police before holding his finger to his lips in a gesture to stay quiet, said Miss Karmy-Jones.
She added: ‘The prosecution suggest they realised that Mr Day was in a terrible state and they had caused him really serious harm. They didn’t stay even though they knew emergency services had been called.’
Miss Karmy-Jones said: ‘It was a rapid, vicious and joint attack on Mr Day which only ended when he collapsed to the floor which he did within eight seconds.
‘The defence may say they were acting in self defence spontaneously and did not use excessive force. But the prosecution suggests this was not self defence. They intended to carry on until he was down. The prosecution say they meant to hurt him, to cause him harm.
‘The prosecution say that in the moments before the first blow, all three had formed a tacit agreement that they were not going to negotiate with Mr Day. The three took up a stance on the pavement and set upon him in a pincer type movement.’
The trial continues