Levi Williams, 27, was jailed for three years after being convicted of the manslaughter of Richard Wingrove, 71, who died in hospital 10 days after being punched outside a pub in Newmarket, Suffolk
A judge said a jockey “could have just trotted away” as he jailed him for the manslaughter of an elderly man he struck outside a pub, causing him to tumble and hit his head on the pavement.
Levi Williams, 27, received a three-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of Richard Wingrove, 71, who passed away in hospital 10 days after Williams struck him in Newmarket, Suffolk. Prosecutor Jane Oldfield informed Peterborough Crown Court that Mr Wingrove, who used a walking stick, and his son Jamie Wingrove, had been drinking in establishments along the town’s high street on March 8, 2025.
She revealed that both Wingrove men were “separately ejected from the Waggon and Horses after disorderly and abusive behaviour towards staff”. The barrister explained that Williams was at the establishment with his friend Matthew Wilson, and both jockeys had been present while the Wingroves “were involved with altercations with the pub staff”.
She stated that at 3.30pm a “physical altercation took place between Jamie Wingrove and the publican in the doorway” of the Waggon and Horses.
CCTV footage shown in court appeared to reveal the jockeys attempting to prevent the man from entering.
When the two jockeys subsequently departed the pub, Ms Oldfield said there was a “verbal exchange between the defendant and the Wingroves”.
“The defendant can be seen throwing a punch at Jamie Wingrove then at Richard Wingrove,” she said.
She stated that the elderly man collapsed to the ground but managed to get back up and “rejoined the fray”. The dispute escalated, and Ms Oldfield stated that Williams “suddenly punched Richard Wingrove to the head causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement”.
Mr Wingrove passed away in a Cambridge hospital on 18 March, after initially being put into an induced coma due to a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage.
Ms Oldfield mentioned that when he was arrested, Williams, now residing in Trefonen, Oswestry, Shropshire, “was described as drunk, shaken and uttering words to the effect of ‘it was an accident'”.
She added: “He tested positive for cocaine.”
In his interview, Williams claimed he had consumed two to three pints of beer and that two men unknown to him had been quarrelling with pub staff who refused to serve them.
“Once they believed the men had left, the defendant and his friend left to go back to work,” the prosecutor summarised his interview, but they ran into the men outside the pub.
She said the defendant stated “punches were being thrown both ways and he felt very threatened”.
Judge Sean Enright informed Williams that he was “not the aggressor at the start. The initial blows you struck could be classed as self-defence,” he said.
“The last punch can’t be so justified. You and your friend could have just trotted away.”
Sentencing him to three years in prison, he said: “This is a case where only custody can be justified. You were in drink, you had taken cocaine, you hit a vulnerable man to the head.”
There was weeping in the public gallery as Williams was escorted to the cells.
Mr Wingrove’s daughter, Louisa Reah, had stated in her victim impact statement that her father had “poor eyesight and relied on a walking stick”.
She mentioned that at the time of the incident her younger daughter was expecting, and the baby “would have been my father’s first great grandchild”.
William England, mitigating, said Williams had “never been involved in any violence of any sort in the past”.
Detective Constable Hannah Barrett, speaking outside court after the hearing, said Richard Wingrove had been “celebrating his birthday” when he lost his life in a “completely avoidable act of violence”.
She said his death had caused “devastation for so many people”.