Mother of Nottingham punch death victim: 'Law on punching killers must be changed'
THE mother of a teenager who was punched to death says the law should be reviewed – after her son's killer left another man with serious injuries.
Liam Munn, 19, a promising footballer who played for Unity FC, was found unconscious outside the Halo nightclub, in Goldsmith Street, in the early hours of January 18, 2009. He died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
His killer, Simeon Ferguson, had served 16 months of his two-year sentence when he was let out on licence.
Within two months he was back in court for punching a man in the back of his head – leaving him with a fractured skull and brain injuries.
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Ferguson pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and received a further two years, in addition to the rest of his original sentence.
Liam's mum Donna, 44, from Nuthall, is disgusted.
"The whole situation just guts me," she said. "It's like the guy that killed Liam thinks he's superhuman. That seems to be the mentality of young lads like that and it is not going to change unless you change the law and put them in prison and sentence them like you would someone who had shot or stabbed someone and that's the only way to make them think twice.
"It shouldn't matter how you kill someone, you should get a sentence strong enough to reflect the fact that you've killed someone and until that happens people are not going to stop doing this.
"Liam was on the verge of everything, he was 19, he had a girlfriend, a job – it was a huge waste. It's disgusting."
Ferguson's second victim was hospitalised for two weeks. He suffered a complete personality change and is unable to drive, which led to him losing his job as a car salesman.
The 37-year-old was with a group of men, playing on a boxing machine at the Onyx club in Leicester Ferguson entered and kicked the machine.
The complainant said: "You can do better than that. Your girlfriend did better."
Ferguson then floored him with a single punch, causing head injuries that have left a risk of post-traumatic epilepsy.
Comments
by MUMMYMUNN
Saturday, March 24 2012, 9:26PM
“I DIDNT HAMMER ANYONE IN THE HEAD ,OR THEY WOULD BE DEAD.I DIDNT SNEAK UP BEHIND ANYONE,I DIDNT PUNCH AN INNOCENT PERSON IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD FOR NO REASON,I SLAPPED A DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING FOR SAYING DISRESPECTFUL THINGS ABOUT MY DEAD SON.THERE WAS NO MENTION OF ANY SHOE IN COURT SO I GUESS YOUR HEARING IS AS BAD AS YOUR SPELLING....BELIEVE ME IF I COULD KILL THE SCUM THAT KILLED MY SON,I WOULD GLADLY SERVE 20YRS IN PRISON .P.S I DIDNT HAVE TO CONVINCE THE JUDGE OF ANYTHING YOU WAS BOTH PROVEN IN COURT OF BEING LIARS AS WELL AS THIEFS IF I REMEMBER? LOL........ R.I.P.LIAM XXXXXX”
by BLawrenson
Saturday, March 24 2012, 9:38AM
“"Moochy", If you think about it "mindless thugs" are just that. They do not think about consequences or, indeed, think at all.”
by moochy2010
Saturday, March 24 2012, 7:59AM
“When you hit somebody , whether it hard or soft , you do not know how it will impact on the victim. Mindless thugs need to remember that , that you could kill a person just with ONE punch . Poor man that died , condolences to his fam and friends. Obviously the killer didn't learn his lesson. If he'd been given a longer jail time , the other wouldn't have been attacked . And just what about the TRAUMA left behind for all those affected , who is going to take responsibility for that ? Are the courts going to issue counselling for PTSD . nope, thought not .”
by BLawrenson
Friday, March 23 2012, 11:28PM
“"truthteller", the distinction between murder and manslaughter is that murder requires a degree of premeditation and intent.”
by truthteller73
Friday, March 23 2012, 10:29PM
“She was in court last year for fighting in town. Just cus she convinve the judge she was provoked us that seen it no what happened.
This woman hammered someone in the head with her stilleto heel and got community service. if the woman died would that have been murder or manslaughter.”
by starving
Friday, March 23 2012, 9:56PM
“To my knowledge there are several men frequenting the pubs and clubs in the locality that have served derisory sentences for killing a man with "one punch"!
I have met a couple of them personally in my line of work and it is not usually long before they commit some form of GBH again.
So be careful out there and watch whose bird you are looking at.”
by mattgaltress
Friday, March 23 2012, 8:18PM
“Kent14 I think our society will take a turn for the worse if that were ever allowed to happen.
Eve2012, I think you're making an important point, and I think the issue is being somewhat confused. What happened in these incidents is inexcusable, but the question doesn't revolve around how you kill someone; there is a destinction between murder and manslaughter. I think I'm right in saying that he was convicted of the latter.”
by kent14
Friday, March 23 2012, 8:05PM
“it won't be long before the streets will be patroled with vigalanties giving out proper punishment unlike our pathetic judges.”
by observer72
Friday, March 23 2012, 6:52PM
“Bill: My view exactly the same. Minus the helpless anger I feel towards this violent moron.”
by keandrews
Friday, March 23 2012, 6:08PM
“Eve, you can't actually be trying to excuse this as an accident... You don't 'accidently' punch someone in the head...
This second assault was committed AFTER THE MURDER of another young man, no lessons learned, no remorse, no change in behaviour...
This was no accident. It doesn't matter how he did it, he killed someone - and has proved he would be happy to take that chance again.”