Baby-Faced Girl, 19, Who Knocks Man, 58, Unconscious With One Punch Is Cleared of Causing His Death

Kelsea O’Hara had attacked Andrew Turner after he refused to apologize for bumping into her friend while on a night out in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. Due to the force of the then 19-Year-Old’s punch, the 58-Year-Old fell to the ground, hit the back of his head, and died six days later, on September 3rd, 2021. 

The Trinity Road, Bridlington-based, now aged 20, pleaded guilty to wounding at the time.

Andrew Espley, prosecuting, said Mr. Turner had gone for drinks in Bridlington with a friend, the exact spot where O’Hara and four of her friends were also out drinking. At the time, Mr. Turner’s friend knew one of Kelsea’s friends, and he apologized to her for an incident that transpired a couple of weeks earlier. 

At about 1:30 a.m., Kelsea reportedly confronted Mr. Turner in Marlborough Terrace. She asked him if he would apologize to one of her friends, whom he had accidentally walked into, but he declined. 

Espley stated: “O’Hara threw her purse onto the floor and launched herself at Mr. Turner, punching him in the face once and causing him to lose consciousness when he fell to the floor, hitting his head in the process when he fell.” Mr. Turner suffered a cut of about five to seven inches to the back of his head and bled. Espley said he had tried to get up when he regained consciousness but couldn’t. Police and paramedics arrived at the scene, but Mr. Turner refused to go to the hospital as his injuries weren’t initially believed to be life-threatening. 

The Hull Crown Court heard that immediately after Turner’s passing within a week of the attack, Humberside Police launched a murder investigation. 

However, a pathologist and a neuropathologist have confirmed that Kelsea wasn’t responsible for Andrew’s death. The leading cause of the death remains concealed by the court, who had also heard there was no evidence the death of Mr. Turner had anything to do with Kelsea. Dale Brook, mitigating, said it was one punch and that Kelsea had initially been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but she had denied this. 

Brook added that Kelsea, who has no previous convictions, had suffered stress and trauma, but this was nothing compared to what happened to the victim. The court also heard she had spent a night of young abandon drinking too much. He also stated his client had an awful start in life, and her father and former boyfriend had both been jailed for severe offenses. 

Judge Sophie McKone, who gave Kelsea a six-month suspended prison sentence, a six-month 7 p.m. to 6a.m curfew, and 20 days of rehabilitation, said to her: “Mr. Turner has since died, but I make it absolutely clear that you bear no responsibility for that.”