Father’s double tragedy as son killed in parking row attack two months after wife dies from cancer

A father says he is “absolutely heartbroken” by the death of his son, killed in parking row exactly two months after his wife died from cancer.

The family of Anthony Harley watched as the machines keeping the 53-year-old alive were turned off after doctors said his brain had died. Mr Harley had been knocked to the floor in a one-punch attack by Harry Fowle, who confronted the victim had asked occupants in a car parked in a taxi bay to move on in Blackpool in February this year.

On Tuesday, Fowle, 35, from Blackpool, was jailed for one year and 10 months after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Preston Crown Court.

Following the sentencing, Mr Harley’s father released a statement through Lancashire Police in which he revealed his wife of 57 years, Anne, had died from cancer on 17 January.

Paul Harley said: “We were all grieving and absolutely heartbroken as a family - then my son’s life was taken away in the most soul-destroying way leaving me without my son and his sisters without their younger brother.”

Paul said he remembered the phone call telling him his son was in intensive care.

“I fell to pieces and was devastated at hearing this. It felt like a bomb was being dropped on our lives,” he said.

With Mr Harley in intensive care, three weeks later, doctors told the family there was nothing more that could be done.

He said: “Having to turn the machines off and take out the tubes that were keeping Anthony alive was absolutely heartbreaking.

“This is more or less saying goodbye at that point, and it absolutely ripped our hearts out. It didn’t feel real, and it is something which we will never get over. As a parent I never considered the thought of my son dying before me.”

Preston Crown Court heard how the impact of the Fowle’s punch saw Mr Harley fall and bang the back of his head, causing the trauma that led to his death on 17 March.

Det Insp Simon Pritchard said: “This case once again shows the devastating consequences which can result from a single punch and my thoughts today are with Mr Harley’s family who have lost a much-loved son and brother.”