A thug who killed a “hardworking dad” with a single punch has been caged for seven years.
Callum Crosbie, 23, delivered a fatal blow to Kevin Wood, 60, in a random, unprovoked attack on a night out in Manchester last year.
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The harrowing November 20 killing took place outside the Printworks entertainment complex as Kevin celebrated his wife Debbie’s birthday.
Kevin, from Manchester – who’s devastated wife described him as her “soul mate” – was trying to get into the Dantzic Street spot for a birthday meal before coming across a disorder outside the entrance.
Recalling the horror at Manchester Crown Court, Debbie said her and her daughter will “never get over” Kevin’s death.
In a heart-breaking tribute, she told how the couple were planning to go out in nearby Middleton after a day of fixing a leaking pipe, but had change their plans last minute.
The wife said: “To this day, I regret not staying in Middleton and I wish I stayed there as he might still be here with us now.
“Kevin was a hard-working man, he gave us absolutely everything we ever wanted. He was my soul mate, my best friend and my husband.
“We’ll never get over it – our lives will never be the same.”
The court heard that Crosbie and his friends had been thrown out of O’Neills bar in Printworks by security staff for refusing to move from a table.
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CCTV showed the moment Crosbie and his chums, all from Newcastle, began hitting and kicking security staff who had formed a line across the entrance at around 8pm.
But tragedy struck moments later as Crosbie dealt a random blow to the left side Kevin’s face, causing him to fall to the floor.
Security staff caught him as he fell and emergency services were called.
But despite desperate attempts to revive him the dad was sadly pronounced dead at 9pm.
Kevin had recently recovered from prostate cancer shortly before his life was snuffed out.
In a desperate plea, Debbie called for others to think twice before throwing a punch as “you don’t realise what you can do to someone and their family, and your own family”.
She added: “To think you can just go for a night out and a meal on your birthday and something like this can happen and only one of you can come home
“I’ve now got a daughter who hasn’t got a dad… He’ll never be able to watch her down the aisle. It’s heart-wrenching.”
Crosbie, of Colebridge Close, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, was sentenced to seven years behind bars for the harrowing attack.
Kevin Doherty and Alan Foster, both from Newcastle, pleaded guilty to affray and were sentenced to four months behind bars.
