A thug has been jailed after he knocked down a complete stranger in the street with a single punch. Kyle Turton was give a nine-year jail term, with an extended period on licence for five years on his release, as he was sentenced for manslaughter at Nottingham Crown Court.
Turton, 21, of of Brooksby Lane, Clifton, was drunk in Upper Parliament Street, in Nottingham city centre, in the early hours of Saturday, March 5. His friend said Turton wanted to hit someone, was looking to start something and his behaviour had changed completely and he was "jumpy and aggressive".
Judge Stuart Rafferty QC, who sentenced Turton over the death of 26-year-old Five Guys worker Nathaniel Bierley, said Turton was there on the CCTV footage "for all to see" practising a round house punch beforehand. A member of the public who was on his phone and eating his chips and minding his own business had his chips knocked from his hand by Turton.
READ MORE: Suspect admits killing young man in Nottingham city centre attack
Judge Rafferty said this was in an "aggressive way which was a sign of what was to come". Mr Bierley kicked a bin but the same friend of Turton's said the victim had not done or said anything to Turton when he moved in and hit him. The fall caused Bierley's death.
Mr Bierley died in hospital 12 days after he was assaulted. He had worked at the Five Guys restaurant, near the Showcase Cinema in Redfield Way.
In the wake of the tragedy, the family of Mr Bierley said he had been celebrating the third anniversary with his girlfriend at the time of the attack. He was described as a 'loving brother' and 'amazing friend.
"It still does not feel real. Part of us just can’t get our heads around it. How people can be so cruel and so thoughtless to the lives of others," the family wrote on an online fundraising page.
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