A pub goer on trial for killing a grandfather with a single punch was like a 'coiled spring' in the lead-up to the attack, a court has heard. Nathan Gothard, 37, is accused of striking David Darke 'so hard that he killed him' to 'save his own face' after losing a fight outside a village pub.
Background to the Incident
Jurors were told that Gothard sought 'revenge' after he was earlier knocked to the ground outside The Crown Inn in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire. Mr Darke, who had attempted to help Gothard back to his feet following the initial altercation, fell backwards after being punched, hitting his head on the ground. He suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain, dying in hospital days later on December 27.
In a statement released after his death, Mr Darke's family described him as a deeply loved father to three daughters and a proud grandfather to three boys.
The Events of the Evening
Gothard, who denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, had been at the pub, just yards from his home, since 4pm that day. Mr Darke arrived later with a group of colleagues from a nearby Best Western hotel. Jurors heard that Gothard began behaving inappropriately, making unwelcome advances and remarks to women in the Best Western group, and made it clear 'it was his terrain - they were in his pub'. The court was told the atmosphere became 'menacing, threatening, argumentative and disputing' due to Gothard's conduct.
Ben Milner, the partner of the pub's landlady, said he tried to calm Gothard down and took him outside. 'I was trying to reason with him to get him to go home, but he refused,' Milner testified at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday. He added that the Best Western group had 'wound up' Gothard, a regular at the pub.
'I heard a lot of two and fro. They were winding him up. I tried to stay out of it at first... I just tried to defuse it by separating Nathan from the group. I think he was wound up anyway - he was like a coiled spring at that point, he had been wound up for a while prior to that,' Milner said.
The Fatal Punch
The Best Western group then left the pub. CCTV footage shown to jurors captured Gothard being knocked to the ground and kicked by one of them, Ty Fern. Milner recalled: 'I remember Nathan ending up on the floor at some point.' He said he did not see Mr Darke get punched a short time later because people were standing in front of him. 'I heard him hit the ground and at that point I heard people at the party panicking and screaming,' he added. 'He had grabbed Nathan before that. He ran up to Nathan and grabbed him first.'
Landlady Abigail Sharpe testified that Gothard had earlier tried to buy one of the women in the group a drink, but she declined, and his offer was not well received. The trial, expected to last seven days, continues.
