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Garry Delaney

Garry Delaney had denied murder

A bouncer and former boxing champion who killed a man with a single punch has been jailed for life for murder.

Garry Delaney, 35, punched Paul Price "without warning" after throwing his friend out of a hotel bar in Woodford, east London, in October 2005.

Sentencing him to serve at least 11 years in jail, Judge Clement Goldstone QC told Delaney, from east London, he had acted like a bully towards the men.

"Your fist became a lethal weapon and you must now pay the price," he said.

The trial heard Delaney, an experienced boxer who had fought at light heavyweight and cruiser weight, would have known the punch "was likely to cause really serious harm".

	Boxing is an honourable sport but you totally abused the skills that you had acquired as a boxer Judge Clement Goldstone QC

That night Mr Price, 23, and his friend James Farrell had gone to a disco but had been turned away because they did not meet the dress code.

They went to the hotel's bar instead, but the barman asked Delaney to remove Mr Farrell, who he thought was being "troublesome".

The trial heard Delaney then appeared to spray Mr Farrell in the face with pepper spray, dragged him outside, dumped him in the shrubbery and punched him.

When Mr Price remonstrated, Delaney beckoned him over to where his friend was lying and then hit him "without warning or reason", the court heard.

Fractured skull

Mr Price's head hit the ground, fracturing his skull. Despite surgery, he died later.

The trial heard Delaney did not hang around to finish his shift, but left so fast in his BMW he forgot to put his headlights on.

Passing sentence, Judge Goldstone said: "It is often said that a bully is a coward.

"On that night you behaved like a bully towards James Farrell and Paul Price, and when you knew that both of them were injured, at least one of them seriously, you responded like a coward.

"Boxing is an honourable sport but you totally abused the skills that you had acquired as a boxer." Delaney was sentenced to life and will serve at least 11 years before being considered for parole - less the 292 days he has spent on remand.

He was also given a nine-month concurrent sentence for assaulting Mr Farrell.

The former boxer, from Newham, had denied murder.