A Covent Garden resident who beat his elderly neighbour to death in a row over shutting a gate has been jailed for 12 years.
Trevor Gocan, 57, punched and kicked Jim O’Neill, 74, at the entrance to the estate off Long Acre where they both lived.
It is believed the deadly confrontation was sparked by Mr O’Neill admonishing his neighbour for not shutting the gate to the estate.
The pensioner suffered a traumatic brain injury in the attack that ensued, and died in hospital two weeks later.
At Southwark crown court on Thursday, Gocan, a former postman, was sentenced by Judge Sally-Ann Hales KC to 12 years in prison for manslaughter.
“Your unlawful actions on 6 October 2024 caused the death of Jim O’Neill, a much-loved husband, father and grandfather”, she said.
“Challenged about something of relative unimportance you were immediately irritated. You did not need to defend yourself.
“The truth is you lost your temper and with it your control.”
“You walked away. Mr O’Neill did not.”
The court heard Mr O’Neill had gone out for a walk that day as his wife cooked their usual Sunday roast lunch.
The judge said he was wearing shorts and Crocs, and “presented no serious threat” to Gocan.
“Had you genuinely felt threatened, you could have walked away” she told him.
After the attack, which was witnessed in part by a 12-year-old, Gocan wandered off instead of trying to help Mr O’Neill.
He later pretended to have tried to ring 999, but in reality he had gone back home and fed his cat.
Mr O’Neill’s widow, Sara, said she had been left “completely devastated” and haunted by nightmares.
“Jim was not only my husband for 49 years but my soulmate,” she said in a victim impact statement.
“I feel depressed, often crying, haunted by dark thoughts.
“I struggle to sleep and have recurring nightmares witnessing the love of my life bleeding on the floor.”
She said she had been forced to put their home up for sale and had not left the flat for weeks, unable to bear seeing the spot where her husband was killed.
Their son, Amos O’Neill, said he saw his father “start to lose consciousness” and told the court: “We never got justice in the courtroom.”
Gocan denied and was cleared by a jury at trial of murder, but was convicted of manslaughter.
CCTV had recorded Gocan walking from his home to a nearby Pret a Manger, where he bought a sandwich and a hot drink.
On the walk back, he encountered Mr O’Neill and set down his food and drink order before launching the violent attack, in a confrontation that lasted around 90 seconds.
The judge said Mr O’Neill may have been “forthright” or even “rude” in his comments about shutting the gate, but she told Gocan: “However confrontational he might have been it provides no adequate explanation for your response, not least because you could have walked the few steps to go inside and get away from him.”
His barrister Benjamin Aina KC said the attack was “completely out of character” and added that Gocan had no previous convictions.
However, he had received a caution in 2012 for pushing his wife.
The court also heard how Gocan was a carer for his children, one of whom has autism.
In a letter read aloud in court, he said: “I am so very, very sorry. Words cannot describe the remorse and regret that I feel.
“I take full responsibility for what happened.
“I failed my children, religion, myself, and above all Mr O’Neill.”
Gocan, who wore grey prison-issue sweatpants, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.
He must serve two-thirds of the 12-year sentence in custody before he can be considered for release on licence.
