A killer who brutally battered his elderly neighbour to death in a petty row over a gate has been jailed for 12 years.
Trevor Gocan, 57, flew into a violent rage and punched and kicked 74-year-old James O’Neill during a shocking broad-daylight altercation outside their homes in the heart of Covent Garden, central London.
The pensioner – known as Jim to his devastated family – was left unconscious and bleeding heavily after the vicious attack on October 6 last year. He slipped into a coma and tragically died in hospital just over two weeks later.
Gocan, a father-of-two, was initially charged with grievous bodily harm with intent – but the charge was upgraded to murder after Mr O’Neill’s death.
The defendant insisted he acted in self-defence, but a jury at Southwark Crown Court cleared him of murder and convicted him of manslaughter.
