The brother of a Lanarkshire dad who died after being punched by a lifelong friend has described his killer being allowed to walk free from court as "absolute madness".
Pensioner John Green smacked John Thomson twice in the face after "harmless banter", leading to him falling and hitting his head on the pavement in Lanark in July last year.
The 69-year-old, known as Jack to his friends, was rushed to hospital with a significant head injury as medics battled to save him. But his life support machine was sadly turned off three days later.
First offender Green, 67, admitted a charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in Glasgow in April. He was let off with a community payback order and ordered to perform 300 hours of unpaid work when he appeared for sentencing last week.
READ MORE: Schoolboy murdered at Glasgow train station was a 'wee character' and 'full of life'
Brother Neil Thomson, 68, told the Daily Record he is haunted by his sibling’s death and said the sentence "doesn't feel like justice".
He said: “All I was looking for is some justice. But that sentence doesn’t feel like justice to me.
“What happened is just always in your mind. I just try not to think about it. No one will ever understand unless they lose someone like this. It’s been eating me up inside.
“When we were at court, the fiscal did say that because he pled guilty, hadn’t been in trouble with the police before and his age, they had to take a third of the sentence off.
“That is absolute madness to me when you’ve taken a life. What he did was culpable homicide. We know he didn’t murder him. But his actions caused my brother’s death and all he gets is 300 hours of unpaid work? Is that all my brother's life is worth?
“That’s unbelievable. He hit him and then he decided to hit him again so, to me, there was intent there to do some damage.”
The court previously heard how the duo had enjoyed their regular Saturday meet-up at Lanark Bowling Club, where they were joined by two other friends. The group was described as being in “good spirits” before being given a lift to their homes.
But while en route, John had engaged in “harmless banter” with his friend Green.
Prosecutor Erin Campbell said: “He [Thomson] was saying things along the lines of: 'Remember when we were boys, Kirkfieldbank used to beat the boys from Crossford'.
"Mr Thomson was originally from Kirkfieldbank and Green from Crossford. Green took offence to these comments."
The car then stopped near Mr Thomson's home in the town's Kenilworth Road and Thomson got out - with Green storming after him.
Words were exchanged before Green punched his friend twice in the jaw causing him to fall to the ground.
The attacker later said: “I am guilty. He slapped me 40 years ago, so I slapped him back tonight, but he is my mate."
After initially being arrested for assault, he added: "Honestly, it is something that should not have happened."
Brother Neil added that the family was already suffering heartache at the loss of John’s wife Eileen, 66, in March 2020.
He said: “Two years before this, my brother’s wife Eileen died in a car accident. She was coming back from dropping some kids off at school and somebody ran into the taxi. She was the passenger. So within two years, we lost them both.”
The Thomson family now hopes to meet with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to discuss the sentence.
A COPFS spokesperson said: "As with all cases, the Crown will consider the sentence and give consideration to whether it might be unduly lenient.”
