A 47-year-old man from Bath has been jailed for ten years and nine months after assaulting and killing another man in the city on Christmas Eve last year.
Thomas Downey, 51, known locally as ‘Manchester Tommy’ was found under a railway arch in Lower Bristol Road, close to Bath railway station, at around 1.30pm on 24th December 2014.
At Bristol Crown Court yesterday (9th December), Darrell Richards, of no fixed address, admitted one count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years and 9 months.
Temporary Det Ch Insp Julie Mackay said: “Thomas Downey died as the result of a callous and brutal assault.
“His body was found by a member of the public, under a railway arch on Lower Bristol Road, near to Bath railway station.
“He’d been bludgeoned to death, the blows causing multiple fractures to his skull. He also suffered broken bones in his arm and shoulder.
“He was known as “Manchester Tommy” because he originated from the Lancashire city and was a well-known member of the homeless community in Bath.
“The attack by Darrell Richards, a fellow member of the homeless community, was vicious and appears to have resulted from what was effectively a very minor disagreement.
“The words that are always in my head are those of Tommy’s family – ‘we never thought anyone would be interested in investigating the death of a homeless alcoholic’.
“Not only were we interested, but we overcame a number of hurdles to establish the truth of what had taken place in that archway and invested all our energies into presenting that case to the court.
“No more could have been done and whatever the outcome, this has been an extremely thorough investigation with the victim at the heart of it.
“When we launched the investigation into Tommy’s death, Richards fled to Bristol before he was arrested.
“We accept his plea of manslaughter on the basis that we believe it reflects what took place in that archway on that evening.
“We hope today’s sentencing will bring some closure for Tommy’s family.”
