The sister of a banking executive who died after a fatal West End attack says the sentence handed to his killer is an “insult” which should be challenged by the Attorney General.
Paul Mason, 52, was walking home from dinner with a friend at The Ivy when he was set upon by a complete stranger, 34-year-old Steven Allan, who was under the mistaken impression his friend’s phone had been stolen.
Allan knocked Mr Mason to the ground and continued to strike him before delivering a final blow that left him unconscious on the pavement. Mr Mason died around six months later from brain injuries sustained in the attack.
Allan, who admitted manslaughter, was cleared of murder in the attack in West Street, Soho, and was sentenced last week to three years and nine months in prison.
Mr Mason’s sister, Rachel Mason, is now campaigning for an Attorney General review of the sentence as “unduly lenient”, saying the punishment which could see Allan released within a year has left them “stunned”.
“What message does that give to society?”, she told the Evening Standard. “It’s an insult to Paul, to us as a family, and to society.
“With that level of violence and the nature of the attack, it doesn’t send a good message to people. It’s weak.”
Mr Mason’s family agreed for shocking CCTV of the 12-second attack that led to his death to be released publicly following Allan’s sentencing hearing.
“We are still reeling from the sentence”, said Mrs Mason, who said the grieving family had hoped Allan would be convicted of murder.
“We think the decision of the jury was a travesty”, she said. “But that was the jury’s decision, unfortunately, and we have to try and accept that.
“However this can be remedied by the Attorney General. Hopefully they can look at it all again, and make a decision on the sentence.”
She added that the CCTV sends a public message that “something needs to be done”, suggesting manslaughter sentencing guidelines could be reviews, and she has launched a petition signed by more than 2,600 people already calling for a formal review of Allan’s sentence.
Allan, a site manager on a construction project in Hyde Park, had spent the evening of December 15, 2020, drinking with a friend, the Old Bailey heard.
He was standing in West Street when he became consumed by the incorrect idea that his friend, who had gone to another establishment, had been robbed.
Mr Mason, a highly-respected banking executive who worked for the Qatar National Bank, walked past at the exact time Allan tried to call his friend, leading him to the false impression that Mr Mason had stolen the phone.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Topolski KC called it a “horror story” and took into account his guilty plea for manslaughter, mental health difficulties, and his stated remorse at the consequences of his actions.
“I’m well aware the sentence I’ve just passed will seem like nothing to (Mr Mason’s) family”, said the judge.
“The circumstances that to the defendant causing the death of a perfectly respectable and wholly innocent stranger who happened to be passing by are as extraordinary as they are tragic.”
Allan, from Hook in Hampshire, spent more than two years on a curfew while awaiting two criminal trials, with more than 400 days counting towards his prison sentence. He will also be eligible for release at the halfway point of his three-years-and-nine-month sentence.
The Attorney General has the power to challenge sentences in the Court of Appeal if they are suspected of being unduly lenient.
