23-year-old Ryan Cooper, who earlier this year was given a 6 year prison term for the manslaughter of Gary ‘Jeff’ Stacey, is appealing both his conviction and sentence, Island Echo can exclusively reveal.
Father-of-10 Gary Stacey was found on St James’ Street, Newport with life-threatening injuries during the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2016 (14th February). Sadly, the decision was taken to switch off Mr Stacey’s life support machine at Southampton General Hospital; he had suffered a broken eye socket after being punched by Cooper, followed by a fractured skull as his head hit the ground.
During a 2-week trial at Winchester Crown Court back in April of this year, the jury heard how Cooper, an aspiring law student and black belt karate expert, told Police that he hit Mr Stacey in ‘self defence’ as he felt threatened when Mr Stacey came at him ‘with a raised fist’.
The jury went against Ryan Cooper’s claim and found him guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to a total of 6 years; 3 years in custody and 3 years on licence.
Cooper, formally of Chatfield Lodge, Newport has now lodged an appeal against both his conviction and sentence.
The appeal was made on 10th May – less than a month after being convicted – but it could take up to 6 months (from 14th July) for the case to go before a ‘single judge’, who will decide if the appeal will be heard.
