Jockey jailed for three years over fatal punch in Newmarket pub altercation

Levi Williams, 27, was sentenced for the manslaughter of 71-year-old Richard Wingrove, who died 10 days after being punched outside a Suffolk pub.

Jockey sentenced to three years for manslaughter of pensioner outside Newmarket pub

A jockey who killed a 71-year-old man with a punch outside a Suffolk pub has been jailed for three years, with the sentencing judge remarking he "could have just trotted away", the Daily Express reports.

Levi Williams, 27, was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court for the manslaughter of Richard Wingrove, who died in hospital in Cambridge on 18 March 2025 — ten days after being struck outside the Waggon and Horses pub in Newmarket.

Events of 8 March

Prosecutor Jane Oldfield told the court that Mr Wingrove, who walked with a stick, had been drinking in pubs along Newmarket high street with his son Jamie Wingrove on 8 March 2025. Both men were separately ejected from the Waggon and Horses following what Oldfield described as "disorderly and abusive behaviour towards staff".

Williams and his friend, fellow jockey Matthew Wilson, were also at the pub at the time. CCTV footage shown in court appeared to show the two jockeys attempting to block one of the Wingrove men from re-entering the premises.

When Williams and Wilson later left the pub, a verbal exchange broke out between Williams and the Wingroves. Oldfield told the court: "The defendant can be seen throwing a punch at Jamie Wingrove then at Richard Wingrove." The older man fell, got back up, and rejoined the altercation.

Williams then "suddenly punched Richard Wingrove to the head causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement", Oldfield said. Mr Wingrove sustained a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain and was placed in an induced coma before his death on 18 March.

Cocaine and alcohol

When arrested, Williams — now of Trefonen, Oswestry, Shropshire — was described as drunk and was heard saying the incident "was an accident". He also tested positive for cocaine.

In his police interview, Williams said he had consumed two to three pints of beer. He stated that two men unknown to him had been arguing with pub staff who refused to serve them, and that after believing the men had left, he and Wilson stepped outside to return to work, only to encounter them again. Williams told officers that "punches were being thrown both ways and he felt very threatened".

Sentencing

Judge Sean Enright acknowledged that Williams was "not the aggressor at the start" and that the initial blows "could be classed as self-defence". However, he said the final punch could not be justified on those grounds.

Jailing Williams for three years, Judge Enright 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."

Sobbing was heard in the public gallery as Williams was led to the cells.

Family impact

In her victim impact statement, Mr Wingrove's daughter Louisa Reah said her father had "poor eyesight and relied on a walking stick". She added that at the time of the incident her younger daughter was pregnant, and the child "would have been my father's first great grandchild".

Defence barrister William England, mitigating, said Williams had "never been involved in any violence of any sort in the past".

Police response

Speaking outside court, Detective Constable Hannah Barrett said Mr Wingrove had been "celebrating his birthday" when he was killed in what she called "a completely avoidable act of violence". She said his death had caused "devastation for so many people".

Source: Daily Express