'Wicked' one-punch killer jailed

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A former soldier has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for a single punch which killed a man he claimed had been "lippy" to him.

Peter Muscat, 20, was found guilty last month of the manslaughter of hairdresser, Michael Evans, 19.

Jailing him at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Cooke said Muscat, of Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly county, did a "wicked thing" by picking on Mr Evans.

The judge also spoke about the death of his own brother due to a drunk driver.

Muscat had claimed self-defence in attacking Mr Evans, from Llanrumney, Cardiff, after the teenager spoke out in defence of a woman.

The two men were with separate groups of friends on a night out in Cardiff on 14 November last year when Mr Evans called out: "It's wrong to hit a woman" after he saw her being pushed by another reveller.

The jury was told that Muscat was not directly involved but punched Mr Evans because he thought he was being "lippy" and wanted to "shut him up for five minutes".

If you've never had a loss like this, you cannot understand the impact on us as a family Christopher Evans, father of victim Michael, pictured

The court heard Mr Evans was the smallest person in his group and Muscat, who had boxing experience, knew how to deliver a "heavy punch".

Judge Cooke rejected Muscat's claim of self-defence and said he was satisfied he had acted "out of temper" .

He said: "You are not an evil man but you did a wicked thing."

'Broken hearts'

The court heard that as Mr Evans lay unconscious in the street, his girlfriend was kicked by another woman as she tended to him.

Mr Evans condition's deteriorated and his family decided to switch off his life support machine. He died six days after the attack.

Muscat will have the 35 days he spent in custody taken off his jail term.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Evans's father, Christopher Evans, said Muscat had "broken the hearts" of the whole family.

He said: "He's my last thought at night and my first thought in the morning.

"If you've never had a loss like this, you cannot understand the impact on us as a family."

Judge Cooke told the court his own brother had been killed by a dangerous driver.

He said it was not a case "in which the judiciary are totally out of touch and do not understand such things".

He said there was, in the general public, a feeling "that judges live in a different world, where tragedy does not touch their lives. It is not so".