A BUILDER killed his ex-workmate in a boozed-fuelled punching “game” over who could take the hardest blow.
Jason Thomas, 47, told 22-year-old Liam Morgan-Whittle “I’ll hit you first” as they joked around at a pal’s house.
Liam Morgan-Whittle was killed during a game at a friend’s home[/caption]
Liam then responded “go on then” before he was punched twice in the head, which knocked him out.
After realising his former colleague was unresponsive on the ground, Thomas said: “What have I done? Have I killed him?”
Liam was rushed to hospital but sadly couldn’t be saved after suffering a bleed to the brain.
Thomas has now been jailed for two-and-a-half years after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Sentencing, Judge Paul Thomas KC said: “This act of the grossest stupidity two years ago cost a 22-year-old man his life.
“This tragic event was fuelled by your excessive alcohol and cocaine use which caused you to lose all common sense. Good-natured banter between the two of you became increasingly competitive and aggressive.
“You were warned by someone present not to do that. He could see the risk. But you in your substance-befuddled state, could not.
“Both the punches you delivered were with great force, sufficient to knock him unconscious, and then to go into cardiac arrest from which he never recovered.”
Swansea Crown Court heard the horror unfolded on March 25, 2023.
Thomas and Liam had been drinking sambuca and taking cocaine at the home of pal Michael Davies in Llanelli after a night out.
Mr Davies told police he had attempted to stop the punching game and described neither of the two punches as “friendly”.
After Liam hit the ground, he had asked Thomas: “What have you done, there was no need for it.”
Thomas then replied: “He asked for it, I told him not to mess.”
John Hipkin KC, defending, said Thomas has “struggled to cope” with his actions and feels “genuine” remorse.
He added: “Jason Thomas never intended that Liam Morgan-Whittle be seriously injured, let alone die. There was a punch-for-punch game the two had become involved in.
“The defendant and Liam were joking and laughing for the majority of this conversation.”
Thomas will serve half his sentence in custody before being released.
Liam was punched twice in the head[/caption]
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