{"id":1167,"date":"2026-05-07T11:59:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/pubgoer-who-killed-grandad-with-single-punch-days-before-christmas-found-guilty\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:59:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:59:46","slug":"pubgoer-who-killed-grandad-with-single-punch-days-before-christmas-found-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/pubgoer-who-killed-grandad-with-single-punch-days-before-christmas-found-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Pubgoer who killed grandad with single punch days before Christmas found guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_cd6cce\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Nathan Gothard, 37, knocked David Darke to the ground near a pub in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, days before Christmas last year, causing his skull to crack<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\"><\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37083319\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dave Darke died in hospital after sustaining a head injury the incident\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_LEI_Dave-Darke.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Dave Darke died in hospital after sustaining a head injury the incident\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Dave Darke died in hospital after sustaining a head injury the incident<cite aria-label=\"Image: leicestershire Live\/BPM, Media\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: leicestershire Live\/BPM, Media)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A pub-goer who fatally punched a 66-year-old grandfather after losing a fight outside a pub has been found guilty of manslaughter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Nathan Gothard, 37, knocked David Darke to the ground near the Crown Inn in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, days before <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/christmas\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Christmas<\/a> last year, causing his skull to crack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gothard denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter ahead of a trial at Leicester Crown Court, but was today convicted by jurors of the less serious offence after around two and a half hours of deliberations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Darke, who stood in the dock with his head bowed after the guilty verdict was returned, was unanimously cleared of murder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Prosecutors said Gothard had made &#8220;unwelcome advances and remarks&#8221; towards women in a group with Mr Darke, who had been at their staff Christmas party at the Crown Inn on the evening of December 21.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37083318\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37083318\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.33\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The incident occurred outside The Crown Inn in the village near Measham\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_LEI_The-Crown-Inn-02JPG.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The incident occurred outside The Crown Inn in Appleby Magna\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The incident occurred outside The Crown Inn in Appleby Magna<cite aria-label=\"Image: leicestershire Live\/BPM, Media\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: leicestershire Live\/BPM, Media)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Jurors were told Gothard\u2019s behaviour caused a &#8220;menacing, threatening, argumentative and disputing&#8221; atmosphere, and made it clear &#8220;it was his terrain \u2013 they were in his pub&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After being escorted from the pub by the landlady and her partner, Gothard got into a fight with a man called Ty Fern, who he had been &#8220;riling and niggling&#8221; in the bar. Gothard was knocked to the ground and kicked before Mr Darke helped him to his feet, prosecutor Peter Joyce KC said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mr Joyce had told jurors in his opening speech: &#8220;The defendant, in his rage, after losing the fight he had picked, attacked Mr Darke to save his own face.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gothard claimed he was in fear of Mr Darke, who he said &#8220;threatened to bury me and put me in the ground&#8221;. He claimed Mr Darke was not helping him to his feet, but grabbed him &#8220;violently&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gothard told jurors: &#8220;I have lashed out and hit him because I thought I was going to be attacked again. I threw a single punch. A pre-emptive strike to stop being assaulted again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Judge William Harbage KC told the defendant he can expect to be handed a &#8220;significant custodial sentence&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gothard, of Church Street, Appleby Magna, will be sentenced on May 22.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/nathan-gothard-appleby-magna-pub-37121235\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nathan Gothard, 37, knocked David Darke to the ground near a pub in Appleby Magna,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778155186_1_LEI_Dave-Darke.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}