Man sentenced for 'one punch' manslaughter

07/09/2010

A 22-year-old man was today sentenced for what prosecutors called a 'mindless and unprovoked' fatal attack on an innocent bystander in Oldham town centre.

Louis Patrick Veitch, of Caunce Street, Blackpool, was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court for the manslaughter of Andrew Molloy, 25.

Mr Molloy suffered fatal head injuries outside the Old Mess House in Yorkshire Street after being punched to the head by Veitch without warning or provocation in the early hours of 15 March this year. Minutes earlier, Veitch had boasted that he possessed a 'killer punch'.

Martin Hill, Crown Prosecution Service, reviewing lawyer, said: "This was a mindless and completed unprovoked attack with horrific consequences.

"As we can see in this instance, all it can take to end a life is for one stupid decision to be made and one punch to be thrown.

"The result is that a young man has died and his family left shattered. No amount of sentence can make up for that."