Ryan Cooper, who killed Isle of Wight man Gary ‘Jeff’ Stacey with a single punch back in February 2016, has today (Friday) lost an appeal against his manslaughter conviction.
Cooper was sentenced to 6 years in prison in April last year after being found guilty of killing the 49-year-old father of 10, but today appeared before the Court of Appeal in London via video link to try and get his manslaughter conviction and sentence overturned.
The former law student and rugby player was initially arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after Gary Stacey – known as Jeff – was found with serious, life-threatening injuries on St James’ Street, Newport during the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2016.
Sadly, the decision was taken to switch off Jeff’s life support machine after he was rushed to Southampton General Hospital with serious head injuries. He had suffered a broken eye socket after being punched by Cooper, followed by a fractured skull as his head hit the ground.
Cooper was charged with manslaughter in June 2016 and finally appeared before the courts for the trial 10 months later in April 2017. He was found guilty following a 2-week trial.
Now, 14 months after being sent to prison, Cooper’s appeal has been dismissed by Lord Justice Irwin, Mr Justice Goose and His Honour Judge Mayo QC.
William Mousley QC has argued on Cooper’s behalf that his conviction was ‘unsafe’ and that 2 pieces of evidence should not have gone before the jury; namely that he had been taking cocaine and the content of text messages sent to his girlfriend about taking cocaine.
It has also been argued that the sentence is ‘too tough’.
Ryan Cooper remains in prison tonight and will not be eligible for release under licence until April 2020.
