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Man spared jail after 'one-punch' killing of teenager in Crete

This article is more than 5 years old

Sebastian Trabucatti convicted of manslaughter over the death of Harrow pupil Archie Lloyd

A club promoter has been spared jail after being convicted at a court in Crete of first degree manslaughter over the death of 18-year-old public schoolboy Archie Lloyd, who he punched during a row in Malia in 2015.

Harrow pupil Lloyd was celebrating the end of his A-Level exams with friends in Malia when he was knocked to the ground on 6 August 2015 by Sebastian Trabucatti.

Three judges and four jurors took less than an hour to find the 25-year-old guilty of first degree manslaughter after a trial at the court of first instance in Heraklion on Tuesday.

After a short deliberation, judges decided he would be spared any immediate jail time and handed him a suspended four-year prison sentence.

Lloyd’s parents James and Claire sat hand-in-hand as they waited for the verdict, supported by a large crowd of relatives many of whom burst into tears as it was announced.

Trabucatti punched 18-year-old Lloyd and pushed over his friend Andy Hutchinson in the drunken row at 5am in the middle of a street off the town’s main strip, the court heard.

The group had exchanged insults culminating in Lloyd saying to Trabucatti, “one day you will work for me”, before walking off, jurors were told.

Trabucatti, 25, of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, was charged in 2015 and released on bail while the senior public prosecutor in Crete investigated.

In 2016 a UK coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at an inquest.

A family statement released through lawyers said: “We have been waiting almost three years for the day when Archie’s attacker was brought to justice and we are relieved that this moment has finally come.

“Sebastian Trabucatti took our wonderful son, brother and friend away from us when he attacked him, shattering many lives as a result.

“While nothing will bring Archie back, we are pleased that he was found guilty of the first degree criminal offence of which he was accused.”

Dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and a silver and blue striped tie, Trabucatti looked bewildered and cried during most of the proceedings as he sat hunched on a bench at the front of the court.

It is the first time he has publicly answered questions about the incident, after refusing to attend the inquest. He ignored requests for a comment after the case ended.

Denying being responsible for the death, claiming it was a slap and not a punch, he said: “I never expected anything like this to ever happen.”

But Lloyd’s father, James, who travelled to the island with his family to give evidence in the case, said: “The only person who saw how badly Archie was hurt was the defendant. The only person who saw the fall clearly was the defendant. He was 18, he had his whole life ahead of him.”

Lloyd, of Micheldever near Winchester, Hampshire, died on the penultimate day of his Interrail holiday. The alleged assault occurred near the Cloud Nine nightclub where Trabucatti worked.

The month-long trip Lloyd took around Europe with four school friends came just after he turned 18 and finished exams. He and Hutchinson had been walking in the middle of the road but clashed with Trabucatti when he and two women on quad bikes hooted at them to move out of the way.

They had briefly met hours earlier in a nightclub toilet where they talked about girls and their trip, the packed courtroom was told.

Trabucatti pushed Hutchinson to the floor and then punched Lloyd in the face after telling the pair to apologise for shouting obscenities to the women, the court was told. Paramedics checked him at the scene and gave him the all clear, the court heard.

Concerned he had not spoken since being hit and because he seemed drowsy, Lloyd was helped into bed at the villa he was staying at and an unsuccessful attempt was made to contact the emergency services. He was found dead a few hours later.

Hutchinson said he felt scared during the altercation and did not see what happened after Lloyd’s comment.

Afterwards he said he heard a woman say: “You deserved that,” before seeing his friend lying on the ground. He said Lloyd was unresponsive for about 30 seconds before he “squeezed his hand” indicating he was conscious, before adding: “He couldn’t speak.”

“A security guard was there, he indicated with his fist, the sign of a punch, so I assumed he had been punched.”

Trabucatti said when the row broke out he told the pair to “back off” and apologise for the insults, adding: “I wasn’t angry, I was scared. There were two boys, they were massive. They came towards us and in our personal space. I felt threatened, threatened is probably a better word. They were shouting, swearing, coming close to us.

“It was kind of a wake-up slap, on the left cheek. Like to say: ‘what are you doing?’ I slapped him, yes. But I don’t think my actions led to this. I could never have foreseen that.”

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