Suspended sentence for killer of surveyor

(First Edition)

A SURVEYOR died from a brain haemorrhage three days after being punched during a row over a leaking roof, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

Desmond Toussaint, an engineer, hit out in frustration when Victor Oster, 63, failed to find the cause of a drip which had plagued him for four years. But the single blow, which smashed Mr Oster's glasses, caused the haemmorhage which, aggravated by the surveyor's high blood pressure, led to his death. Toussaint, 34, of West Harrow, north-west London, who admitted manslaughter, was given a 15-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

Judge Michael Coombe said he took a lenient course because of the case's peculiar circumstances.