Bouncer admits killing man in Bristol street
A nightclub bouncer has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a construction worker who died from a single punch to the head in Bristol.
Mohammed Waqar, aged 22, from Stratford Road in Sparkhill, Birmingham, admitted causing the death of Simon Bampton, who was assaulted in Marsh Street on August 19 last year.
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Mr Bampton, 28, from Southampton, suffered a brain haemorrhage after his head snapped back from a single punch.
He had been walking through the city centre with a colleague after a night out drinking when they became involved in an altercation around 2.30am.
Waqar had completed the first year of a civil engineering course at Birmingham City University and was in the process of transferring to a law degree but working as a bouncer in Bristol at the time.
At Bristol Crown Court today, Jonathan Gosling invited Judge Jamie Tabor, QC, to adjourn the case pending a pre-sentence report, as well as the gathering of a number of references and a letter from Waqar to Mr Bampton's family.
The judge adjourned the case for sentence to February 4.
He bailed Waqar on condition that he live at his Birmingham address, abide by a curfew from 7pm to 7am and also surrender his passport.
Mr Bampton had begun working in Bristol the week before his death, travelling home to Southampton each night.
His company decided to pay for him and his colleagues to stay in the city the following week.
It was as he walked back to a city centre hotel that he was attacked.
His death was the second tragedy in a year for the family, following the death of Mr Bampton’s mother, Jill, from a lung condition.
As well as his family, Mr Brampton left behind his girlfriend Natasha Matthews.
The couple who had known each other since school had been together six years and lived together in Southampton in a rented flat.
Speaking at a press conference in the days following Mr Brampton’s untimely death, Ms Matthews said: “I feel absolutely distraught by what has happened. I feel broken. I had the happiest six years of my life with him.
"There wasn’t a day that went by when we didn’t tell each other that we loved each other.”
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by Lubz, birmingham
Monday, March 23 2009, 10:50AM
“People are to discriminating these days if you dont know the full story just dont say anything.Waqar is my family memba and he didnt mean to kill a loved one. if i ws to loose a loved one then i would try and understand from both parties nobody should think bad of the waqar. he might be big in size but have you ever heard of the big friendly giant thats what he is all am saying is that never jugde people if you dont know the full story!!!”
by umar, birmingham
Wednesday, February 04 2009, 8:21AM
“i happen to be a very close friend of mohammed waqar. firstly my condolence goes out to simon bamptons family as loosing a loved one in such a manner is undoubtedly a great tragidy. i want to stress a few points here. firstly many people dont know what happened that night. this wasnt a simple case of a door man flexing hes muscles as the incident occured off duty. i personally am aware of the incident in greater detail then all of the commentators on this page hence i say to you all that he acted in pure self-defence. the nature of the force used was undoubtedly disproportionate but when one is put in a threatening situation then out of anger follows irratioinal force that one seems not to control. waqar is a kind hearted individual who in any other cercumstances wouldnt hurt a fly and the fact that he didnt persist on assualting simon showed hes intention. to catogarise waqar in a group of doormen who persist on assualting people for there own ill gain is a pure misjudgment. waqar has got a clean record and has never even recieved not even as little as a parking ticket. he regrets what happened and is ready to face up to it today in court when he gets sentenced. let this be a lesson to all. always think twice before preemptive action gets taken as one unintentional punch can end with devastating consequences.”
by paul belbin, southampton
Tuesday, January 06 2009, 7:03PM
“He should be done for murder life for life what is wrong wiv this world jus think how simons girlfriend and family feel”
by Mike, Bristol
Tuesday, January 06 2009, 12:33PM
“Your quite right it's wrong to judge untill you know all the facts. I know one thing this type of behaviour men acting up and getting in fights and all the rubbish that goes with it, has killed two lives and hurt alot of people on the way. When will people learn, that nights on the town, loads of beer and arguing leads to things like this. One question I have to put is was it all worth this.”
by mark, brislington
Monday, January 05 2009, 5:35PM
“@'Professor' - how do you know this man wasn't protecting himself?
You don't and neither do any of us, so equally you can't know if this man is a threat to anyone.”