EXCLUSIVE: Family of popular Glasgow pub owner appeal killer's sentence

The family of a popular Glasgow pub owner say his killer’s sentence isn’t strong enough.

Peter Derrick’s daughter Robyn says she’s appealing Thomas Conaghan’s sentence.

He was jailed for 22 months on Friday at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting to culpable homicide following a violent struggle with Peter in the Viceroy Bar on Paisley Road West last July.

Conaghan has already served seven months of his sentence.

Peter struggled to force Conaghan out of the pub and followed him outside, but CCTV showed Peter returning and collapsing moments later.

Peter suffered a cardiac arrest and died twelve days later in hospital.

Pathologists found Peter to have an underlying heart disease which may have caused a heart attack later in life.

Robyn said: "To be honest I didn't know what to expect - I know I didn't expect that.

"It's a horrible situation to think 'is that what my dad's life is worth to you, 22 months?'

"There's no amount of time that could take away our pain but it's a slap in the face if I'm being honest."

Robyn called her VIA officer straight after the sentencing on Friday to request an appeal, and received a call back within twenty minutes to say the crown were appealing the case under the grounds of it being unduly lenient.

Robyn's compared it to a similar case in Edinburgh, where a four and a half year sentence was handed down to Alan Rooney after he entered David De Montfalcon's shop in Tollcross in August 2018 while he was intoxicated and caused Mr De Montfalcon to die from a heart attack due to stress.

She said: "I had read previous stories, it had happened to a man in Edinburgh, really similar circumstances and I knew that the accused in that pleaded as well and he received four and a half years and I thought, well with Mr Conaghan's previous record, maybe he'll get a bit more.

"Everything that we've done since my dad's passed, everything to do with raising money for defibrillators - it was to try and help other families so they wouldn't have to go through what we have gone through.

"In four months time, Mr Conaghan - with good behaviour - could be out of prison, and with his previous history is more than likely to reoffend and could do this to someone else's family and we just don't want that to happen and we want there to be proper justice for my dad as well."

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