Teen girl, 19, cleared of killing man with single punch after he hit head on kerb

A teenager who knocked a man unconscious with a single punch has been cleared of causing his death and spared jail.

Kelsea O'Hara, then aged 19, attacked Andrew Turner, 58, after he refused to apologise for bumping into her friend in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in August last year.

Turner fell to the ground, hit his head, and died six days later, Hull Crown Court heard.

Humberside Police then launched a murder investigation.

However, despite Turner's death coming so soon after the attack, two experts decided that O'Hara was not responsible.

The court heard O'Hara, who was drunk, attacked Turner after he didn't apologise for bumping into her friend on the street. She pleaded guilty to wounding but was spared an immediate jail term and instead given a six-month curfew.

Andrew Espley, prosecuting, said Turner had been out with a friend in Bridlington, where O'Hara and four of her friends were also out drinking.

Turner's friend knew one of O'Hara's friends and he apologised to her for an incident a couple of weeks earlier.

At around 1:30am, O'Hara confronted him and asked if he would apologise to one of her friends, who he had accidentally walked into, but he refused.

Espley said: "O'Hara threw her purse onto the floor and launched herself at Mr Turner, punching him in the face once and causing him to lose consciousness when he fell to the floor, hitting his head in the process.

Turner, of Bridlington, suffered a cut of five to seven inches to the back of his head and was bleeding.

Espley said: "He tried to get up when he regained consciousness but could not do so."

Police and paramedics arrived but Turner refused to go to hospital and his injuries were not initially believed to be life-threatening.

There was no evidence that the death of Turner had "anything to do with" O'Hara and this had been confirmed after investigations by a pathologist and a neuropathologist, the court heard.

Dale Brook, mitigating, said O'Hara had originally been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent but she had denied this.

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He said: "She has expressed heartfelt and genuine remorse for what she did that night and what happened to the victim. It has taken a substantial toll on her. She has understandably thought a great deal about whether she is the cause of what happened to the victim. This is a tragic case."

Judge Sophie McKone told O'Hara: "Mr Turner has since died but I make it absolutely clear that you bear no responsibility for that. There is evidence from two experts, a pathologist and a neuropathologist, who concluded that your actions did not contribute to his death.

"You were violent towards him. You had been drinking. It may be that he refused to apologise but that was no reason to resort to violence and punch somebody because you were not happy about that. It is absolutely no excuse whatsoever."

O'Hara was given a six-month suspended prison sentence, a six-month 7pm to 6am curfew, and 20 days of rehabilitation.