Overview
- The murder trial at Leicester Crown Court, which opened Tuesday, centers on a single punch that left 66-year-old David Darke fatally injured.
- Pub staffer Ben Milner testified that defendant Nathan Gothard was 'like a coiled spring' and CCTV showed him knocked down in an earlier fight before Darke tried to help him up.
- Prosecutors say Gothard then punched Darke outside the Crown Inn, causing him to fall and hit his head, and Darke died in hospital on December 27.
- Jurors were told Gothard had been escorted out earlier for making unwelcome remarks to women from a Best Western staff party and then waited outside looking for the group.
- Gothard denies murder and manslaughter and claims self-defence, which prosecutors say is contradicted by the footage, and the week-long jury trial continues.