Man jailed for golf club killing

A man was jailed for six years today for killing a 20-year-old with the broken shaft of a golf club.

Anthony Leader, 22, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey yesterday to the manslaughter of Sam Fitzgerald outside the Thornhill Arms in Islington, north London.

The pair fought outside the pub as a football match was shown on April 14 2010.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors: "The pair of them had willingly been fighting one another in front of a crowd of spectators.

"It was intended to be a fist fight, but it was Leader who chose to raise the stakes by using a weapon."

In a letter to the court, Leader said he knew the victim from school and did not regard him as his enemy.

Leader was on bail at the time for conspiracy to rob West End jewellers using motorcycles, and has since been jailed for four years.

Judge Charles Wide said Mr Fitzgerald was getting the better of Leader in the fight, when Leader picked up the club which was used to stab him when it broke.

The judge added: "This was a significant weapon which you picked up."

PA