Chilling moment savage pub-goer kills man with single punch for insulting his girlfriend’s ‘off-key’ karaoke performance
THIS is the chilling moment a pub-goer killed a man who complained about his girlfriend’s karaoke singing with a single punch.
Christopher Cooper could be seen following Kelvin Evans, 64, outside The Station Hotel boozer in Swansea.
The 39-year-old felt “slighted” after believing Kelvin had complained about his girlfriend Tracy Francis butchering a Pink song on the microphone.
Haunting footage released by police showed Cooper landing a blow to the back of Kelvin’s head – causing him to collapse unconscious to the ground.
The victim was rushed to hospital where he tragically died a month later from his injuries.
After the horror, Cooper boasted about the attack and branded his fists “bad boys”.
He today yelled out “go f*** yourself…you’re a d***head” to the judge as he was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years for murder.
His partner Francis, 54, was imprisoned for two years after being convicted of assisting an offender.
Swansea Crown Court heard the pub was staging a sing-a-long night when Francis got on the mic to belt out “Who Knew”.
But Cooper became enraged after believing Kelvin had made a comment about the “off-key” performance.
When Kelvin left the pub to head elsewhere with his partner, Cooper followed him outside.
Prosecutor Andrew Jones KC said: “[Kelvin] was punched, cowardly, from behind with such strength that he remained for almost a month in hospital before he succumbed to his injuries.”
The court was told he “stood no chance” as the killer landed the blow, which was so ferocious it caused Kelvin to smash his head into a wall.
Following the horror, Cooper and Francis were seen on CCTV trying to flee the area.
Despite being aware of the attack, she failed to call the police and immediately searched for hotels for them to hide out.
The couple were arrested the following day while at a service station in South Cornelly.
Sentencing, Judge Geraint Walters KC said Cooper had dealt a “cowardly punch delivered from behind” and shown no remorse.
The judge said: “The motive for this wanton violence was the perceived feeling that your partner Tracy Francis had been slighted by Mr Evans and his partner simply looking at each other and saying something to each other.
“You perceived this to be about Tracy Francis’ voice as she used the karaoke machine.
“It festered in your mind from that moment onwards and that was enough to trigger the intent.
“As an act of revenge nobody was going to slight you or anybody connected with you without paying a price for it.”
Kelvin’s 92-year-old mother, Maureen Evans faced her son’s killer today as she tearfully read out a victim impact statement.
She said: “You never as a mother expect your children to go before you, I thought at the age of 92, all my children would be there when my time came.
“Kelvin was so helpful and one of the best sons you could wish for.
“I look at his picture every night and every morning when I wake up, I miss him so much.”
While his partner Janet Cross told how Kelvin was a “second dad” to her two children for 25 years.
She also revealed the pair had previously planned to retire to Sicily.
Janet added: “The murder of Kelvin has left me with horrendous nightmares, sleepless nights and days and nights filled with inconsolable grief.
To add to the hurt, I have had to sit in court and listen to the lies told by the defendants.
“Both appear to be utterly devoid of empathy or emotion for what happened to Kelvin as a result of their actions.
“Christopher Cooper can only be described as walking rage – he not only killed Kelvin, but he killed a part of me too.”