Horrifying moment thug kills good Samaritan with single punch after tragic dad-of-two tried to stop pub brawl
THIS is the horrifying moment a thug kills a good Samaritan with a single punch after the tragic dad tried to stop a pub brawl.
Kieran Egan wept as he was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after killing David Hallatt.
Police have released the dramatic footage showing as the victim innocently stepped in to stop the fight and was struck with a fatal blow.
Witnesses described the punch as sounding louder than a gunshot.
Mr Hallatt had begged his killer to stop after stepping in to break up the fight outside a Wetherspoons pub in Chichester, West Sussex, on June 20 last year.
He was left dying in the street after cracking his head on the pavement.
Egan, 30, hit father-of-two Mr Hallatt, 57, once in the face causing him to fall backwards.
The tiler, from Sheffield, never regained consciousness.
Egan was cleared of murder by a jury in Hove after he admitted throwing the fatal punch.
He wiped tears from his eyes and was visibly shaking in the dock.
Terrified drinkers at the Chichester pub looked on as Mr Hallatt tried to break up the fight between Egan and his drunk friend.
“Mr Hallatt did no more than approach and appeal to him for the fighting to stop,” John Price KC for the Crown told the court.
Another drinker said he heard Mr Hallatt say: “Stop fighting, he’s drunk, please, please, he doesn’t mean it.”
He died where he fell, fracturing his skull and causing massive damage to his brain, Mr Price said.
The jury were shown three-and-a-half minutes of CCTV footage described as shocking and distressing from the Dolphin and Anchor pub.
Witnesses said Egan looked riled up and full of adrenaline.
An argument started inside the pub spilled out onto the street on the warm summer evening following England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark at Euro 2024.
The jury found him not guilty of murder by a majority decision.
Friend Dyce Barnfield was also cleared of murder and walked free from court.
Egan is due to be sentenced.
Pub manager Jacob Carroll said: “I have watched a lot of boxing and done hospitality work. It was like a smack, a thud all in one.”
Bar Manager Kloee Worboyes told police: “The punch to the victim is the loudest punch and him hitting the floor that I ever seen in my life.
“Working in a pub I’ve seen fights and sometimes box myself for charity events.
“The fights I’ve seen before at the pub have always been scruffy, but this was not.
“What else is there that is louder than a gunshot?”
Emergency services battled to save Mr Hallatt outside the pub.
A post mortem two days later revealed the cause of death as blunt force head injury, the coroner’s court in Horsham heard.
An inquest heard he was seen to fall backwards and hit his head just before 11pm.
Mr Hallatt’s heartbroken family described him as a devoted family man.
“David was so violently taken from us,” they said in a statement.
“He was married for 25 years with two young daughters, aged 20 and 22.
“He lived for his family, and he loved his work as a tiler travelling the country.
“He played the electric guitar, and was an avid football and rock music fan.”
His wife Sadie and daughters Rosie and Sally said he would be “forever in our broken hearts”.