A five-year jail sentence handed to a bus driver who beat a man to death after a row over queue-jumping at a Sainsbury's has been branded 'paltry' by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
Demiesh Williams, 30, was jailed for five years and three months for the fatal assault on Andrew Clark, 43, in Beckenham, south London. Williams pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Woolwich Crown Court after initially being charged with murder.
Mr Jenrick said he was writing to the Attorney General to ask for the sentence to be reconsidered. 'Williams committed an appalling crime and yet his prison sentence is paltry,' he told the Daily Mail. 'A five year sentence, reduced further under the early release scheme, is not justice.'
The court heard that an argument broke out when Williams pushed ahead in a queue at the supermarket. Mr Clark challenged him, asking him to wait his turn. Williams threatened to 'take him outside' before returning to his car, putting on a balaclava, and attacking Mr Clark as he left the shop.
CCTV footage showed Williams restraining Mr Clark with one hand while striking him with the other, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. Mr Clark died in hospital three days later.
Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Lees said Mr Clark was a 'hard-working family man' and that his family were dealing with 'unimaginable grief'. Williams will serve up to two-thirds of his sentence in prison before being released on licence.
