Off-duty Pontefract bouncer killed drunken man with punches in 'show of bravado and ego'
Doorman threw punches at man causing him to fall and fracture his skull.
An off-duty pub doorman fatally punched a drunken man after a night out, leaving him unconscious in the middle of a dual carriageway.
A car was then seen to accidentally run over the lower half of the stricken man’s body moments later.
Luke Thompson died in hospital 10 days later, caused by a fracture to the back of skull and a bleed to the brain, irrefutably caused by the punch.
It was suggested 25-year-old Mr Thompson had attempted to intervene in a heated discussion between Dylan Maxwell and a woman during a night out in Pontefract, before being punched several times by Maxwell.
Mr Thompson did not know either of them.
Maxwell is standing trial at Leeds Crown Court this week charged with causing manslaughter.
The 28-year-old claims it was in self defence, that he “preempted” an attack from Mr Thompson.
But opening the case for the Crown, prosecutor David Outterside told the jury: “The prosecution say this was not self defence in a million years.
“They were punches thrown in anger at a drunk man who posed no threat to him and the defendant knew it.
“Luke Thompson had the temerity to challenge him. This was about bravado and ego, not lawful self defence.”
The court was played the harrowing CCTV footage of the punches being thrown at Mr Thompson, and the car running his body over around a minute later after Maxwell had walked off.
Mr Outterside said that Maxwell had worked as door security at The Last Bank pub in Pontefract town centre on the evening of November 18, 2023.
In the early hours of the next morning, having finished his shift, he went to Big Fellas nightclub in the town.
Mr Thompson was also at the club, “oblivious” to Maxwell being there.
With the club closing at 4am, all of the patrons spilled out onto the street. Mr Thompson and his friend began to walk away towards Front Street.
Maxwell was seen having a disagreement with a woman he was in the club with, Mr Outterside said.
She then began to walk off in the same direction as Mr Thompson.
Maxwell got into a taxi which drove onto Front Street, where he asked the driver to stop.
Maxwell then got out and began shouting at the woman to get into the taxi, and eventually she did.
At this point, CCTV showed Mr Thompson walking towards the car.
Mr Outterside said he “seemed” to have witnessed the argument about the woman getting into the taxi.
Mr Outterside acknowledged Mr Thompson was shouting and may have even threatened to punch Maxwell, but had his arms by his side.
Maxwell was then seen to walk towards Mr Thompson and lash out, punching him to the head and sending him to the ground.
But he then got up and Maxwell approached again throwing three more punches, the last sending him back down to the ground. He cracked his head on the asphalt which left him unconscious.
Mr Outterside said Mr Thompson had been “drunk and out of his depth” and was vulnerable due to his intoxication.
Maxwell then ran back to the taxi but the driver refused to take him, so he and the woman walked off to get another cab.
Mr Thompson was found by police after he had been run over by the passing Ford Fiesta.
Mr Thompson was taken to Leeds General Infirmary but died 10 days later.
A postmortem examination found he suffered a broken pelvis caused by the car, but the blow to the head had caused his death.
The driver of the Fiesta was spoken with but no charges brought against them.
Maxwell, of Wood View Avenue, Castleford, was arrested two days after the incident.
He was interviewed three times, but largely refused to answer questions.
However, he did tell officers it was in self defence and that he “preempted an assault” from Mr Thompson.
The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues.