Coward murdered pub-goer with single punch over partner’s karaoke singing

A man who killed a ‘timid, fun-loving’ pub-goer with one punch in a cowardly attack over a perceived slight about his partner’s karaoke singing has been jailed for life.

Christopher Cooper, 39, took a swing at 64-year-old Kelvin Evans from behind outside The Station Hotel, known locally as ‘The Gyp’, in Gorseinon on May 26 last year.

Chilling CCTV of the attack shows Mr Evans – who appears to have been oblivious to Cooper with no chance of defending himself – fall sideways into a wall before landing on the pavement.

Mr Evans was immediately knocked unconscious and was taken to hospital, where he died a month later.

Cooper, from the Maritime Quarter, Swansea, boasted about the attack afterwards, calling his fists his ‘bad boys’.

He offered a guilty plea to manslaughter but was found guilty of murder following a trial at the city’s crown court and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years on Friday.

As he was led to the cells he screamed at the judge: ‘Go f**k yourself – how’s that. You’re a dickhead.’

Cooper’s partner, 54-year-old Catherine Tracy Francis, from Llanelli, was found guilty of assisting an offender and jailed for two years.

Francis was aware of the assault but did not call the police and analysis of her phone showed that she had searched for hotels immediately after the attack and the pair had packed a car to leave the area.

Police arrested them the next day at a service station in South Cornelly.

The judge said Cooper appeared to have felt ‘slighted’ after Mr Evans and his partner had shared a look while Francis was singing karaoke.

Addressing Cooper, Judge Geraint Walters said: ‘Your victim, Kelvin Evans, was a much-loved member of the Evans family and the wider community.

‘A man without an angry bone in his body. A timid, fun-loving family man admired by all.’

He added: ‘It was a cowardly punch, delivered from behind, totally unexpected and one, inevitably, that would result in really serious injury if the head were to strike a hard surface.

‘The motive for this violence was the perceived feeling that your partner, Tracy Francis, had been slighted by Mr Evans and his partner simply looking at each other, and saying something, which you had perceived to be about Tracy Francis’ voice as she used the karaoke machine.

‘It festered in your mind from that moment onwards and that was enough to trigger an attempt to cause really serious bodily harm – as an act effectively of revenge.

‘Nobody was going to slight you, or anybody connected with you without paying the price for it.’

The judge said he believed Cooper had waited for Mr Evans to leave before he followed him out and would have struck him again if his victim had not fallen to the floor.

Mr Evan’s 92-year-old mother, Maureen Evans, held back tears as she faced her son’s killer while reading out a victim impact statement.

‘You never as a mother expect your children to go before you, I thought at the age of 92, all my children would be there when my time came,’ she said.

‘Kelvin was so helpful and one of the best sons you could wish for.

‘I look at his picture every night and every morning when I wake up, I miss him so much.’

Mr Evans was described by his family as ‘kind, funny and loved by all who knew him’.

Janet Cross, Mr Evan’s ex-partner, said they had previously planned to retire to Sicily, and she wished they had done that before last May.

She said: ‘The thought that Kelvin is no longer with me is simply heartbreaking.

‘Kelvin was the love of my life and was in my life and the lives of my two children for 25 years.

‘Not only was he a second dad, he was their friend.’

She added: ‘The murder of Kelvin has left me with horrendous nightmares, sleepless nights and days and nights filled with inconsolable grief.

‘To add to the hurt, I have had to sit in court and listen to the lies told by the defendants.

‘Both appear to be utterly devoid of empathy or emotion for what happened to Kelvin as a result of their actions.

‘Christopher Cooper can only be described as walking rage – he not only killed Kelvin, but he killed a part of me too.’

Nia Sturgess of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘This case shows the devastating consequences that can arise from just one punch.

‘What started as a trivial issue for Christopher Cooper resulted in a senseless act of violence and a tragic loss of life.

‘Cooper punched Kelvin Evans from behind, giving him no opportunity to defend himself.

‘The Crown Prosecution Service presented strong evidence to demonstrate Cooper’s intent, resulting in this conviction.

‘Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Kelvin Evans’ loved ones.’

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