ARTICLE AD BOX
A drunken fight between two brothers ended in tragedy when one of them was fatally punched and died, a court has heard.
Ben Starr, 34, inflicted a single fatal blow to his brother Lee at a motocross event in Swindon in August last year.
Lee Starr, who was in his 30s, suffered a fatal head injury at the Foxhill motocross event in Upper Wanborough and died later in hospital.
Bristol Crown Court heard his brother was initially charged with grievous bodily harm with intent but was later charged with murder and manslaughter.
After asking for a “Goodyear Indication” from a judge – the maximum sentence he could receive – Ben Starr pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which was accepted by the Crown.
Sam Jones, defending, said: “This case on the facts is, in any view, a tragic case.
“It is a tragic case not least because those who have attended in support of the defendant today are those who have been so affected by the consequence of the alleged incident.
“Both the defendant and his brother were intoxicated at the relevant time.
“One of the eyewitnesses to the incident, the defendant’s father, refers to in his witness statement of Lee after having punched his brother on two occasions and after the two of them end up on the ground, with the defendant restraining his brother, after which they are separated, he sees Lee direct a kick and a punch towards the defendant.
“The defendant in his own interview with the police describes that kick and punch connecting with him.
“But it is accepted on his behalf that the only evidence of those blows connecting come from him.
“The witnesses at the scene see a kick and a punch directed towards him but not connect with him.
“The basis of plea put forward on the defendant’s behalf is that after the two are separated and after the attempted kick and punch are thrown, the defendant then accepts in that context throwing the single punch which he did, which caused the injury.”
Mr Jones said medical experts were not able to determine the level of force used when the defendant punched his brother.
“The medical professionals are not able to indicate the level of force used, but that the punch caused bruising to the jaw of Lee, not of sufficient force to cause any fracturing,” he said.
“A punch of moderate force, possibly a moderately forceful punch, could have generated the reaction of Lee’s head in response to being punched which then triggered the fatal injury.”
Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said the guilty plea to manslaughter was acceptable.
“We accept of course this was a fight between two brothers,” he said.
“Lee certainly called his brother out, they wrestled on the floor and there were blows made by Lee towards Ben and vice versa.
“The two independent witnesses say that the fight had finished by that stage, so self-defence didn’t arise.
“It was in the context of that that it was a blow out of anger or indeed another reason but certainly not self-defence.”
Starr, of Woodside Avenue, Ripley, Derbyshire, was released on conditional bail by Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, until he is sentenced on June 26.
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