Fatal Punch Leads to Pub Landlord’s Death in Lichfield

During an evening at the Ricco and Loren bar in Lichfield, Staffordshire, 36-year-old Billy Allison delivered a single, forceful punch to landlord Matthew O’Gara. The blow broke several bones in O’Gara’s neck and split an artery that supplies blood to the brain, injuries that the court was told proved fatal. In the same incident Allison also struck Adam Cooper, a member of a separate group at the bar, causing a fractured eye socket, a fractured nose and damage to a dental implant. Witness Rebecca Mullally, O’Gara’s partner, described the punch as “quick, loud and forceful,” noting that O’Gara was turned away when it landed. After the assault, bar patrons assisted O’Gara, paramedics were called, and Allison left the venue through a back door, later swapping a T-shirt with friend Ben Cullen to obscure his face from camera footage.

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Cooper’s injuries required extensive dental work; he has spent £6,000 on repairs and attended the dentist eleven times, with further treatment planned. O’Gara’s neck injuries and arterial damage led to his death on the scene, as confirmed by the coroner’s evidence presented to the jury.

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Allison has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Cooper, while denying that either act was intentional. He added that he walked out the back door in shock, his head bleeding. The trial at Stafford Crown Court continues as the jury considers the evidence.

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The group of friends, including Allison’s girlfriend Charlotte Dean and friends Ryan Bridge and Ben Cullen, hired two Ubers to travel from the Duke of York to Ricco and Loren after an earlier stop at the Plough in Huddlesford. They had been drinking throughout the day, and the assault occurred while they were dancing to a song O’Gara liked.

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• “Nothing really, I just looked around the room, just like anybody does.” — Adam Cooper

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