A man who killed a friend with a single punch in the street has been sent to prison for four years. Stephen Paylor, 48, from Heanor, hit Richard Mee and the unprovoked blow caused a bleed to the brain which ultimately killed him, depriving his daughter of her dad and leaving his family distraught.
The victim's family were at Derby Crown Court to see his killer sentenced while Paylor appeared over a video-link from HMP Nottingham, as reported by Derbyshire Live. In a victim impact statement, the victim's older sister Susan told the court how her brother "had a heart of gold and I can't believe how much I miss him".
Jailing the defendant, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "Whatever sentence I pass on you, Stephen Paylor, will not be enough for those who loved Richard Mee. Nothing I do or say can ever bring him back, I only wish that I could.
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"You have always accepted the unlawful act which was you punched him, you came up behind him and punched him when he had no idea what was coming. That what caused the bleed (to the brain) and that's what caused the death. The main factor was the punch you delivered to the back of the head."
Following a two-week trial at Derby Crown Court last month, a jury took just two hours to find Paylor guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Mee who he attacked with a single "haymaker" punch in the street. Paylor will serve two thirds of his sentence.
Hearing evidence they were told how Mr Mee received "a deliberate and unprovoked" punch from to the back of the head from the defendant and later died from a brain injury. After being assaulted he was sent staggering towards a wall and then complained of a pain at the base of his head for the next two hours until he was taken to hospital.
There, a test revealed he had suffered a bleed to the brain and sadly, a decision was made to switch off his life-support machine two days later. Paylor, of High Street, had denied the charge.
In a victim impact statement made by Mr Mee's older sister, Susan Watson, and read to the court by prosecutor Dan Bishop, she said: "He had a heart of gold, he was very loving and caring, I can't belive how much I miss him. Richard did not do anything to deserve this and if he had not been hit that day he would still be with us."
And a second statement, made by Nicola Webster, the former partner of Mr Mee and mother of his daughter, Leah, said: "Losing Richard has been devastating, it has left a massive hole in our lives. I could always rely on him especially when it came to Leah.
"I will never forgive Stephen Paylor for what he did to Richard."
Mr Bishop, opening the case at the start of the trial last month, said the defendant, the 48-year-old victim and a third man called Jack Dunn were together in Market Street, Heanor, when the incident occurred.
He said: "At 4.20pm on October 27, 2021, Mr Paylor punched Mr Mee to the back of his head and Mr Paylor's punch was quite deliberate and totally unprovoked. As Richard Mee did not see it coming he was unable to take any defensive measure.
"It did not knock him to the floor but caused him to stagger to his right towards a wall. He was able to carry on walking, with Stephen Paylor and Jack Dunn, and the three men visited a friend together.
"Within half an hour of that punch, Richard Mee was complaining his neck was hurting, he made a phone call to a friend saying 'Paylor's slide me again' meaning the defendant had hit him."
Mr Bishop said Mr Mee went to the nearby home of his former partner where their daughter was and who went over the road to get help from a neighbour. He said an ambulance was called which took the victim to the Queen's Medical Centre.
The prosecutor said there, Mr Mee's condition continued to deteriorate and he died there two days later. He said a post mortem examination carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton, gave a cause of death as a subarachnoid haemorrhage, or bleeding to the brain.
He said neurological experts from both the prosecution and the defence carried out their own further examinations and that each "were unable to make a scientifically conclusive diagnosis as to the cause of the fatal bleed".
The sentencing hearing was told how Paylor, whose children are aged 18 and 20, has a number of previous convictions including a four-year jail sentence in 2003 for robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Raglan Ashton, mitigating, said: "He's always accepted responsibility for the punch and he has always accepted it was an unlawful punch and he now accepts he was responsible for causing the death. He knows Leah no longer has a father for the rest of her life and he bears that responsibility and takes it on the chin."
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