Overview
- Docherty, now 30, admitted his unlawful violence ultimately led to Hackett’s death and was sentenced today at Leeds Crown Court.
- Hackett was punched outside Buttershaw Lane Working Men’s Club in September 2015, fell, and suffered a skull fracture with severe brain swelling.
- After about a year in hospital and years of specialist care, Hackett died on April 9, 2022 from delayed complications of the head injuries.
- Judge Guy Kearl KC said no sentence could compensate the family for seven years of decline and applied reductions for a guilty plea and time already served.
- The court heard Docherty had prior football-related violence convictions, a 45‑month term for the initial GBH, and a separate 2021 one‑punch assault that led to a three‑year sentence in 2023.