British Man Gets 2.5 Years In Prison For Killing Co-Worker During A Friendly Game Of "Who Can Take The Best Punch?"
NY Post - A British construction worker has admitted accidentally killing a friend in a drunken, drug-fueled game over “who could take a punch best.”
Jason Thomas, 40, had been drinking and taking cocaine with Liam Morgan-Whittle, 22, in Wales when the two “started to boast about who could take a punch the best,” the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Thomas then punched his pal “twice in quick succession,” knocking him unconscious.
“Sadly, despite the efforts of the emergency services, Liam Morgan-Whittle died,” the CPS said — with police saying he “died after suffering catastrophic head injuries from two punches.”
That's fucked up. Insanely sad for the family of Liam Morgan-Whittle to lose their son at only 22-years old. Nobody should ever have to go through something like that. For Jason Thomas to get off with only two-and-a-half years for killing a guy... that's a light slap on the wrist. He might as well have been let off with a warning. I get that the two men had agreed to a punch-off. That Liam volunteered to have Jason Thomas punch first. And by all accounts, Jason Thomas quickly realized the severity of what he'd done, immediately flagged down a fire engine, got first responders on the scene. From everything I've read, everybody seems to agree that Jason Thomas never in a million years thought he would kill the guy. Both of them were drunk. Both had allegedly been doing coke. Which certainly doesn't hold up as an excuse in the court of law, but on a human level I suppose it helps you wrap your mind around how it could happen. But none of the articles I've found address what my #1 question was when I learned of this story. Which is why in the hell Jason throw 2 punches?
Here's what an article in People has to say about the events leading up to the incident.
People - Prosecutor William Hughes KC told the court, "There came a point in the evening where they began a discussion which could be described as banter but became an increasingly aggressive argument as to who could take a punch better," per the outlet.
The incident occurred at Michael Davies' apartment, and he said the suspect had told the victim, "I'll hit you first," and he'd allegedly responded, "Go on then," the BBC reported. Davies told police he had "tried to discourage the punching game," the outlet added.
Defense lawyer John Hipkin KC insisted Thomas "never intended that Liam Morgan-Whittle be seriously injured, let alone die. There was a punch-for-punch game the two had become involved in," per the BBC, adding that his client "has struggled to cope with what he has done. His remorse is genuine."
Judge Paul Thomas KC told the court, "This tragic event was fueled by your excessive alcohol and cocaine use which caused you to lose all common sense," per the BBC. "You were warned by someone present not to do that. He could see the risk. But you in your substance-befuddled state, could not."
"Both the punches you delivered were with great force, sufficient to knock him unconscious, and then to go into cardiac arrest from which he never recovered," the judge continued.
"I'll hit you first"... a "punch-for-punch" game. Unless they're leaving out a crucially important detail of the story, the two men agreed to single punch. Had Jason killed him with just one punch, then two-and-a-half years seems about right. But that second punch should add 10 years to his sentence. If not more. It almost makes it not even manslaughter, and just straight up third-degree murder (or whatever they call it in Great Britain). Jason Thomas blatantly went outside the rules of the game they agreed to play, and it resulted in someone's death. Liam asked for one punch. He never signed up for the second one. It was an all-time cheap shot that lead to someone dying.
The moral of the story is obviously to never agree to go punch-for-punch with another full-grown adult. But the fact that this guy essentially got off the hook for only two-and-a-half years when he threw a second punch at a man that the man did not ask for. Jason must have somehow got himself a hell of a lawyer. Or maybe the prosecutor just failed to bring up the second punch all together. Which would be an insane miscarriage of justice on behalf of Liam. If I ever accidentally kill a guy in Wales, I sure know what story I'm telling the cops.