A punter allegedly punched a grandad so hard near a Midlands pub that he killed him in a rage, a murder trial has heard.
Attack Outside Pub
Nathan Gothard, 37, allegedly went looking for a fight before he fatally knocked David Darke to the ground just days before Christmas 2025, prosecutors say. The 66-year-old had helped Gothard to his feet after he lost a fight outside a bar, the court heard. But Gothard then attacked Mr Darke 'to save his own face', it is alleged.
Gothard, of Church Street, Appleby Magna, denies murder and an alternative count of manslaughter. He wore black glasses as he sat in the dock at Leicester Crown Court, shaking his head as prosecutor Peter Joyce KC opened the Crown’s case to jurors.
Menacing Atmosphere
The jury of seven men and five women heard how the atmosphere in the Crown Inn, in Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, was said to be 'menacing, threatening, argumentative and disputing' because of Gothard’s behaviour on the evening of December 21 last year. A group of people had come to the pub from their staff Christmas party at the Best Western Hotel on the other side of the village.
Opening the case on Tuesday (April 28), Mr Joyce said: 'The defendant, Nathan Gothard, was already in the pub having arrived just before 4pm. During the course of the evening, Nathan Gothard began to behave inappropriately, making unwelcome advances and remarks to female members of the group who had come from the staff party and making clear to them it was his terrain – they were in his pub.'
The landlady and her partner escorted Gothard from the bar to 'calm the situation down', jurors heard. Mr Joyce continued: 'Instead of going home, the defendant Mr Gothard went all the way up the outside of the pub to continue his fights or disputes or arguments with those who had been at the party, who he knew and saw were coming out of the front door of the pub. In simple terms, he went to look for them.'
Fatal Punch
The court heard that Gothard got into a fight with a man he had been 'riling and niggling and irritating at' in the bar. Gothard lost the fight and was 'knocked down' and kicked, causing an injury to his face, the court heard. Mr Joyce continued: 'David Darke, the man soon to be killed, in fact picked him up and helped pull him to his feet. The defendant, in his rage, after losing the fight he had picked, attacked Mr Darke to save his own face. He hit him so hard that he killed him. You do that in your rage because of intent to cause someone really serious harm – that’s murder.'
Mr Darke hit his head on the ground and was taken to hospital, where he died a few days later. After the attack, Gothard told police that an 'elderly male kept saying he was going to kill me and bury me', Mr Joyce alleged. He said: 'He was looking for a fight. He got a fight. He lost the first one. He lost face and so he attacked the man he described as the ‘elderly man’. The trial continues.
