This is the moment a row between two love rivals ended in tragedy, as a single punch in a country club car park killed a married father of two.
Train conductor Alexander Frew, 44, was caught on CCTV felling Matthew Welford, moments after being warned to stay away from the victim’s wife.
Yesterday he was jailed for three and a half years for manslaughter.
Punch: Mr Welford fell straight backwards after he was hit by his love rival during the incident on June 4
Mr Welford was playing pool and told his rival ‘to keep away from his wife and stop looking at her’ and to look elsewhere for sex.
Mrs Welford left the venue and later in the evening the two men came face to face in the car park when Frew suggested they ‘sort this outside’. He waited outside for his married rival to appear and, during the ensuing confrontation, Mr Welford made a derogatory remark about Frew’s own failed marriage.
The shocking footage of the incident – which was played to the jury – appears to show Mr Welford laughing at the other man before he is felled with a single blow, losing consciousness as he hits his head on the ground.
He came round, but his condition deteriorated and he died in hospital eight days later from a ‘massive brain injury’.
Frew, of Garforth, claimed he struck out because he feared he was about to be butted. He told the jury he was scared and believed Mr Welford had ‘lost it’.
He denied manslaughter, but was convicted by a majority decision at Leeds Crown Court.
The jury was told Frew had twice stayed in a hotel with Mr Welford’s wife. He admitted they kissed on the second visit, but claimed nothing sexual had happened.
Passing sentence Judge Geoffrey Marson said ‘this is not a court of morals’ but it was ‘perfectly obvious’ Mr Welford believed Frew was ‘attracted to his wife’ at the time of the incident in June.
The judge said: ‘Cases such as these are very difficult. It is not suggested that you intended either to kill or cause Matthew serious harm but the consequences were unintentional and unintended.’
In a statement, the dead man’s family said: ‘Our message to people is to be the bigger person and use their common sense, just walk away. That other person is someone’s son, father, brother and just a moment of violence can ruin their life and yours forever.’
Read more: Mail Online
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