Nathan Gothard, 37, denies murder and manslaughter
Dave Darke suffered a severe skull fracture and brain damage when his head hit the ground(Image: Leicestershire Police)
The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering a grandad outside a village pub is expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday (May 5).
David Darke suffered a skull fracture and fatal injuries to his brain in an incident outside the Crown Inn pub in Appleby Magna, in the west of Leicestershire.
Nathan Gothard, 37, was arrested and charged with his murder. The jury has been told that he punched 66-year-old Mr Darke in the chin just before Mr Darke fell to the ground and banged his head, which caused the fatal injuries.
According to the prosecution in the ongoing murder trial at Leicester Crown Court, Gothard, who had allegedly been in a row with Mr Darke’s group earlier in the evening, had gone to the front of the pub to wait for them after being asked to leave the pub by the landlady, it’s claimed.
CCTV footage from outside the pub showed Gothard in a fight with Ty Fern, a work colleague of Mr Darke’s, who had been at the pub with the victim and other co-workers from the Best Western hotel in the village, the trial has been told.
The group of hotel staff had gone to the pub after their Christmas party at the hotel on Sunday, December 21, that year. Gothard had been at the pub since about 4pm that evening, while the Best Western group arrived at the Crown about 7pm.
The alleged incident outside happened at about 10pm and Mr Darke died in hospital on Saturday, December 27.
In his opening of the evidence, prosecutor Peter Joyce KC had told the jurors that Gothard, who lives near the pub in Church Street, Appleby Magna, had ‘lost face’ after losing the fight against Mr Fern and that led to him punching Mr Darke.
Mr Joyce told the jury earlier in the trial: “Despite the best efforts of the landlady to calm things outside and telling the defendant to go home, he became involved in a fight with another man.
“He wanted a fight with him and Gothard took his glasses off before the fight. He had a fight and it was a fight he lost. He picked it and he lost it.
“He was knocked down and he was kicked. He could have gone home then, but no.
“David Darke picked him up and helped pull him to his feet.
“They were pulling and tugging at each other. Having lost the fight, in his fury and wanting revenge – and having lost face – he attacked David Darke.
“He punched him so hard that he was knocked straight onto the ground. He hit his head on the ground.”
But the jury was also told about an incident earlier in the pub, described by pub landlady Abigail Sharpe and her partner Ben Milner, about how Gothard – after offering to buy a female Best Western worker a drink and being rejected – was approached by Mr Darke inside the pub and grabbed.
The landlady, Miss Sharpe, told the jury that Gothard asked for her help when Mr Darke grabbed his forearm.
The jury also saw CCTV footage from later of Mr Darke grappling with Gothard outside the pub. It is alleged Mr Darke told Gothard, “I’m going to bury you”.
Gothard’s defence barrister Balraj Bhatia KC told the jury: “Nathan Gothard did not know David Darke, had no beef, no bad blood with David Darke. Had no reason, you may think, to want him harmed, to want him dead.
“We have threats made by David Darke – ‘I’m going to bury you’. Those threats are confirmed by witnesses.
“Not a single threat was made by Nathan Gothard.
“Who was the aggressor inside the pub? We submit, on the evidence, it was not him. He may have been acting like a prat, he may have been acting like an oaf, but he was not the aggressor.”
Gothard denies murder and manslaughter.
