COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A former boxer has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for killing a West Midlands fireman.

Shane Walford, 33, of St Athan Barracks, Vale of Glamorgan, pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Paul Gibbons but was convicted in May.

Mr Gibbons, 41, from Coventry, was punched by Walford during a night out in the city in October 2009 and later died in hospital from brain injuries.

Walford, a former paratrooper, was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court.

He told the court he had been acting in self-defence when he punched Mr Gibbons.

Afghanistan service

In passing sentence Judge Simon Tonking told him: "You had recently been serving in the army, and having served in Afghanistan it should not be ignored that you were somebody who was necessarily alert to the possibility of attack.

"Whilst you may have genuinely believed, albeit entirely wrongly, that you needed to defend yourself from Mr Gibbons, the amount of force which you used was out of proportion to the threat that you believed Mr Gibbons posed."

Mr Gibbons had been celebrating his birthday and approached Walford on the dance floor at Millsy's bar in Earlsdon Street on 25 October when he was lifted off his feet by a punch.

Walford handed himself in to police when Mr Gibbons, a father-of-two, died the next day in hospital of brain injuries.

The court was told he had previous convictions for for breaking a man's jaw and assaulting a police officer.

Coventry ex-soldier who killed Canley firefighter with one punch on the run in Spain



An ex-solder and boxer who killed a Coventry firefighter with a single punch is on the run in Spain, it's thought.

Violent criminal Shane Walford, aged 38, was jailed for four and a half years in 2010 for the manslaughter of popular father-of-two Paul Gibbons, following the unprovoked attack in a Coventry bar.

Walford attacked Mr Gibbons inside Millsy’s in Earlsdon in 2009.

In court Mr Gibbons was described as “the best father to his children, and someone who was forever helping friends, work colleagues and even strangers”.

Walford served half of his sentence behind bars but once he was released he breached the terms of his licence and went on the run.

Now he has been named on a list of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) 10 most wanted criminals and suspects who are believed to be on the run in Spain.

Hank Cole, the NCA’s head of international operations, said: “Spain is not a safe haven for British fugitives. The NCA and its partners will continue to pursue these individuals relentlessly and return them to the UK to face justice.

“The exceptional level of collaboration and intelligence sharing with the Spanish authorities has been vital to these arrests. However, we still need the support of the public.

“Be our eyes and ears and tell us if you have any information on the whereabouts of our targets.”

Shane Walford arrested while on the run in Canary islands

Shane Walford was picked up by officers on the Canary Islands yesterday just days after being named on a list of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) 10 most wanted criminals.

Last week, the NCA revealed the names of ten criminals and suspects they believed to be on the run in Spain as part of Operation Captura, which was first launched in 2006.

Walford was among those named and his arrest takes the number of those caught in the last eight years to 66 out of 76 named suspects.