Four-year jail term for killer of man with Asperger's 'not unduly lenient'
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Version 0 of 1. A four-year jail sentence handed to a 21-year-old man who killed a man with Asperger syndrome in an unprovoked street attack was not unduly lenient, the appeal court has ruled. The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, had argued that the term given to Lewis Gill for killing Andrew Young, 40, with a single punch was not severe enough. But three appeal court judges rejected his claim that the sentence should be increased. Young died after being struck by Gill in Bournemouth, Dorset, in November last year. A judge at Salisbury crown court sentenced Gill in February to four years in prison for manslaughter. The sentence was described as a "joke" by Young's mother, Pamela, and there was a public outcry over it after CCTV footage capturing the incident was published. At the appeal court in London on Wednesday the attorney general argued that the sentence did not reflect the gravity of the attack. Lord Justice Treacy, announcing the decision of the court, said: "We have concluded that the sentence imposed below is not one which can be described as unduly lenient. "Indeed, it seems to us that the sentence imposed was one within the reasonable range available to the trial judge, properly weighing the relevant factors and the guidance of this court." The CCTV images of the attack – which were viewed by the three appeal court judges – show Young challenging a cyclist who was riding his bike on the pavement. After about a minute of discussion between the pair, Gill – an acquaintance of the cyclist – arrives. The cyclist rides off and Gill appears to turn to follow him, but lunges towards Young and punches his head. Young immediately falls to the ground, where he lies motionless. Gill, from Sutton, south London, glances back at him before walking away. The incident happened outside a Tesco Metro on Charminster Road, Bournemouth. Young suffered a serious head injury and later died in Southampton hospital. Young's mother, Pamela, was furious at the sentence. Speaking in February she said: "You can see Andrew didn't cause Lewis Gill any harm. I wish that awful man who took my son away had pleaded not guilty so he would have got a longer sentence. The sentence is an absolute joke. I'm a committed Christian, but I think that if someone takes a life they should be prepared to forfeit their own." Young was said to be able to speak several languages but to have had the social skills of a 14-year-old. The court heard he told the cyclist during the argument that riding his bike on the pavement was a "dangerous activity". |