Pensioner fatally attacked at Garforth bus stop for challenging thug who rode bike on the path
Cyclist rammed bike into elderly man
A pensioner died after being attacked by a thug on a bicycle whom he challenged for riding on the pavement.
Thomas Childe confronted 79-year-old Colin Starbuck at the bus stop outside the Tesco store in Garforth.
As a result of the assault, the elderly victim died from an underlying heart condition.
Childe, 24, admitted a charge of manslaughter, having initially been charged with murder.
Appearing at Leeds Crown Court today he was jailed for six years and eight months.
Judge Tom Bayliss KC told him: “You had been berated by the deceased for your behaviour.
“You deliberately rode your bike at the deceased. I’m sure you did it to seek confrontation.
“You were seeking, in my judgement, to intimidate him.
“You intended to cause him harm.
“You thought it was not his place to tell you what to do. You made a deliberate decision to pick on an old man.”
He rejected any notion that Childe had remorse for his actions.
Mr Starbuck had been waiting at the bus stop at around 6.30pm on October 29 last year after he had been shopping.
Childe was on his bicycle and rode past the victim before using the ATM at Tesco.
Mr Starbuck made a comment about him being on the path and having no lights, with Childe swearing at him.
Having used the cash point, Childe then rode back the same way, with Judge Bayliss saying he was “quite sure” it was to seek further confrontation with the elderly man.
Childe, who had a hood up and riding on the path again, purposely rammed his bike into Mr Starbuck.
An altercation took place with witnesses saying that Mr Starbuck put Childe in a headlock.
Wriggling free, he then threw the pensioner with full force from the pavement into the bus stop’s bay area.
Mr Starbuck struck his head on the floor before Childe fled the scene.
Members of the public came to his aid, including passing motorists. He suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead.
He had an underlying heart condition and a pathologist said the cardiac arrest was attributable to the attack from Childe.
A victim impact statement from his relatives read: “Our family feel distraught and distressed by the loss.”
Childe, of Oak Crescent, Garforth, was arrested on suspicion of murder, but twice refused to answer questions during police interviews. He said he had been given advice by his solicitor at the time not to offer no comments.
Held on remand, Childe denied murder but admitted manslaughter during a hearing in March.
The court was told that Childe suffers from a personality disorder, possibly exacerbated by cannabis use.
He has a previous conviction for dealing in the drug.