63-year-old man jailed for manslaughter of best friend
Richard Eveleigh, 63, from the Wirral has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for the manslaughter of Paul Lightowler in May.
A Liverpool football fan who killed his best friend of 45 years after punching him once in a petty row after their beloved Reds lost a major match was this afternoon jailed for two years four months.
The family of victim Paul Lightowler, who had been looking forward to his retirement, had urged the judge not to jail Richard Eveleigh, who they regard as virtually one of their family.
But Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said that while “ the magnanimity of Mr Lightowler’s family is of an intensity I have not witnessed before in 14 years as a practitioner” he could not allow their affection for him to do more than reduce the sentence.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the two friends had such a close bond the victim’s sister Claire Bow described them “like a married couple.”
The tragedy occurred on May 18 this year while the two men, who had been best friends for 45 years after starting work together at Unilever and went to the Liverpool games together, were in Liverpool to watch the televised Europa League final between the Reds and Seville in Basle, Switzerland.
He and the rest of the deceased’s family group were subdued after Liverpool lost 3 -1 and as they were walking along together “the defendant made a foolish comment to Mr Lightowler, calling him a tight arse. Mr Lightowler took offence to that and was asking why he had been called that,” said Anya Horwood, prosecuting.
CCTV footage played to the court showed the two men and their group go into Patterson’s Bar in Gradwell Street but seconds later the two men came back outside and Eveleigh rushes at his friend, who is backing away.
Eveleigh threw two punches, one of which struck him in the face and he was knocked backwards onto the road and Eveleigh fell on top of him and then tried to help his unconscious friend.
He was taken to hospital having suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries but despite medical intervention he died on May 27.
Eveleigh, 63, a sales manager for a scientific instrument firm, of Woodlands Drive, Barnston, Wirral, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Sentencing the grandfather of two, Judge Goldstone said, “On May 27, 2016 your best friend Paul Lightowler died. It was a tragedy. He was 61 years of age, he was a man much loved by his close family and much loved by you.
“You were and no doubt are, devastated by the loss which is as keenly felt by you as it is by his family. You were friends over 45 years, while it is a grievous loss, it is a loss for which you bear full responsibility, because you killed him with a single punch.”
He said that the comment made by Eveleigh had been no doubt “Little more than a light-hearted dig. Mr Lightowler was upset by it and he challenged you, but he got no satisfactions because you would not explain why you called him it.
“You tried to push him away, and then in anger punched him to the left side of his face and briefly aimed a second blow which missed.
“That blow flattened him, and he sustained head injuries which were despite the best efforts of the treating medical staff and despite your own best efforts to prove fatal.
Michael Goldwater, defending, had told the court that the victim’s family would be punished a “second time” having already lost their brother and uncle if Eveleigh was sent to prison.
The defendant was regarded as a man of “exemplary kindness and good nature” who is “well-liked and well-regarded by everyone who comes into contact with him. He was the kindest and calmest of men and it is inexplicable that he should have been overcome by exasperation to lunge at his closest friend.”