Harrow schoolboy 'provoked fatal punch' court rules as attacker is spared jail

An 18-year-old Harrow schoolboy provoked a fatal punch by telling his killer: “One day you’ll work for me,” a court has ruled.

Archie Lloyd, a gifted sportsman at the school, was on holiday in Malia, Crete, and awaiting the results of his A-levels in August 2015 when he was involved in a row with Sebastian Trabucatti, 25, a British club promoter, who knocked him to the floor.

Trabucatti, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, was found guilty yesterday (TUES) of first degree manslaughter following a trial at the Court of First Instance in Heraklion.

However, he was spared jail and instead handed a suspended four-year prison sentence after the three judges concluded that Trabucatti had been provoked by “the serious misconduct and inappropriate behaviour” of Mr Lloyd.

Mr Lloyd's parents James and Claire sat hand-in-hand as they waited for the verdict, supported by a large crowd of relatives many of whom burst into tears as it was announced.

A family statement said: "We have been waiting almost three years for the day when Archie's attacker was brought to justice and we are relieved that this moment has finally come.

"Sebastian Trabucatti took our wonderful son, brother and friend away from us when he attacked him, shattering many lives as a result.

"While nothing will bring Archie back, we are pleased that he was found guilty of the first degree criminal offence of which he was accused."

Trabucatti  punched Mr Lloyd, from Micheldever, Hampshire, and pushed over his best friend Andy Hutchinson in the drunken row at 5am in the middle of a street off the Malia's main strip, the court heard.

Mr Hutchinson told how the group had gone to a club - where they briefly met Trabucatti in a toilet - and then to have a lap dance, but he went outside to be sick and decided to leave.

He told how Mr Lloyd caught up with him and they walked in the middle of the road to get a taxi when they clashed with Trabucatti, his girlfriend Faye Malcolm and another woman.

They were all on quad bikes and were hooting at them to move out of the way on the narrow street.

The group had exchanged insults which culminated in Mr Lloyd saying to Trabucatti: "One day you will work for me" before walking off.

Trabucatti pushed Mr Hutchinson to the ground and then punched Mr Lloyd in the face after telling the pair to apologise for shouting "f---off sluts, whores" to the women.

Paramedics checked him Mr Lloyd at the scene and gave him the all-clear before the group went back to a villa they had rented in nearby Sissi.

Concerned he had not spoken since being hit and because he seemed drowsy, they got him into bed and tried to ring emergency services but could not get through. They woke a few hours later to find Mr Lloyd had died.

Mr Hutchinson said he did not see what happened after Mr Lloyd's comment and afterwards heard a woman say "you deserved that" before seeing his friend lying on the ground.

Wiping away tears, he told the court that Mr Lloyd was unresponsive for about 30 seconds before he "squeezed his hand" to indicate he was conscious, adding: "He couldn't speak.

"A security guard was there, he indicated with his fist, the sign of a punch, so I assumed he had been punched."

Trabucatti denied being responsible for Mr Lloyd’s death, claiming it was a slap and not a punch, and said: "I never expected anything like this to ever happen."

Dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and a silver and blue striped tie, he looked bewildered and cried during most of the proceedings as he sat hunched on a bench at the front of the court.

It was the first time he had publicly answered questions about the incident, after refusing to attend the inquest. He ignored requests for a comment after the case ended.

In 2016  a UK coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.