Overview
- Joseph Jones, 22, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Exeter Crown Court and was sentenced on March 13 to three-and-a-half years, with release on licence after two years and four months.
- The punch followed a brief exchange outside The Loft in Exmouth on December 13 when Cemal John Yilmaz joked that Jones was from Birmingham and Jones replied he was from Wolverhampton.
- Witnesses said the strike was unprovoked and delivered quickly, leaving Yilmaz likely unconscious before his head hit the road with a “terrifying thud.”
- Yilmaz suffered a broken jaw and fractured skull and died at Derriford Hospital three days later on December 16.
- Jones walked away from the scene and later presented himself to police; prosecutors highlighted Marines’ training in restraint, and the victim’s family voiced disappointment with the sentence.