Jail for ex-marine who killed man with one punch

A former Royal Marine who killed a man with one punch to the head was jailed today.

David Malcolm was sentenced to three years and nine months at the High Court in Glasgow after he admitted the culpable homicide of Brian Lawrie on February 21 last year.

Mr Lawrie, 22, fell to the ground and hit the back of his head following a confrontation outside a club in Musselburgh, East Lothian.

He suffered a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage and died on March 9. His death came just two months after his mother Karen had died.

The court was told the pair had had a number of run-ins over 40 that Malcolm owed to Mr Lawrie.

On the night of the altercation, Mr Lawrie had demanded payment and Malcolm had hit him, defence solicitor advocate Richard Goddard told the court.

He said the 29-year-old had not realised he had seriously injured Mr Lawrie outside the Wiremill social club and went back inside.

Later, he was told he was hurt and went to try and help him, and only left when he was asked to go.

He also handed himself in to the police, and sat with his head in his hands during questioning, the solicitor said.

Mr Goddard told the judge: "He never wanted any of this to happen. He never wanted to hurt Brian Lawrie."

Malcolm, who has a four-year-old son, served with the Royal Marines for four years and had an "excellent record of service", his lawyer said.

He later tried to become a firefighter but was not admitted on health grounds, and instead worked in the construction industry.

Sentencing him, Judge Lord Kinclaven said although he accepted that Malcolm had "no intention to cause significant harm to the deceased", there was "no alternative" to a prison sentence.

He told Malcolm he had taken into account "your obviously genuine remorse and your sympathy with the deceased and his family".

But, he added: "You have accepted responsibility for a very serious offence.

"You assaulted Brian Lawrie. You punched him once in the head and you caused him to fall to the ground, whereby he was so seriously injured that he died.

"Tragically as a result of your assault, a young life has been lost. There is nothing that this court can do or say that will compensate for the loss of that life. There is no alternative to a custodial sentence."

The judge told Malcolm that he would have been given a five-year sentence if he had not taken the mitigating circumstances into account.

Mr Lawrie's family, who were gathered on one side of the courtroom, sobbed as the judge delivered his sentence.