A grandfather helped his alleged killer up off the ground moments before he was attacked and died, a trial has heard.
Incident at the Crown Inn
Nathan Gothard had been drinking at a Leicestershire village pub and had reportedly made lewd comments to women before the alleged attack on David Darke days before Christmas last year. Gothard was taken out the back door of the Crown Inn in Appleby Magna by the pub management and told to go home, the jury was told.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC told Leicester Crown Court that instead of leaving, Gothard went looking for a fight, Leicestershire Live reports.
The fatal punch
This incident, with a work colleague of Mr Darke's, resulted in Gothard, 36, being knocked to the floor. The court heard how Mr Darke, who was 66, went to help him before being floored by a single punch. He banged his head and died in hospital.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Mr Joyce said: "On Sunday, December 21 last year, some time before about 7pm, a number of people went from their Christmas party where they worked, at the Best Western in Appleby Magna, to the Crown Inn."
"About 10 people went and the defendant, Nathan Gothard, was already in the pub, having arrived just before 4pm."
"During the course of the evening Nathan Gothard began to behave inappropriately, making unwelcome advances and remarks to female members of the group who had come from the staff party and making clear to them it was his terrain - they were in his pub."
"Shortly before 9pm the atmosphere in the bar was - thanks to his behaviour - becoming menacing and threatening."
Mr Joyce said the landlady and her partner intervened to prevent trouble and that "after much effort" the landlady's partner took Gothard to the back garden and told him to walk back to his house - a very short distance across the pub's rear car park.
Aftermath and arrest
A while later there was a fight between Gothard and another man, who was in Mr Darke's group, the court heard. Mr Joyce said: "Gothard wouldn't go home. He went up the side of the pub and he stood there for some time."
"The party group, in dribs and drabs, came out and were gathering to go home. Gothard went to continue his dispute - he went to look for them."
"Despite the best efforts of the landlady to calm things outside and telling the defendant to go home, he became involved in a fight with another man."
"He wanted a fight with him and Gothard took his glasses off before the fight. He had a fight and it was a fight he lost. He picked it and he lost it."
"He was knocked down and he was kicked. He could have gone home then, but no. David Darke picked him up and helped pull him to his feet."
"They were pulling and tugging at each other. Having lost the fight, in his fury and wanting revenge and having lost face he attacked David Darke."
"He punched him so hard that he was knocked straight onto the ground. He hit his head on the ground. He was a man of 66 and he was taken to hospital and a few days later he died."
The prosecutor said that after the punch, Gothard was taken home by his uncle and later arrested. He told Leicestershire Police a version of events that Mr Joyce said was contradicted by the CCTV evidence.
Mr Joyce said Gothard's claims in his version that he was defending himself were not true. He told the jury: "It's the prosecution case that the defendant, in his rage after losing the fight he had picked, attacked Mr Darke to save face."
"He hit him so hard he killed him and you do that because you intend to cause serious harm - and that's murder."
Gothard, of Church Street, Appleby Magna, denies murder and manslaughter. The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues.
