Judge recommends new play about one-punch killer Jacob Dunne to violent Chesterfield brawler

Judge Shaun Smith KC referenced the new play, called “Punch”, while sentencing Nicky Raynor-Smith for a Clay Cross incident during which a man he had “knocked out cold” struck his head on the pavement as he fell.

Luckily, Raynor-Smith’s victim – who suffered a fractured skull and a brain bleed – survived the Clay Cross assault in in July 2022.

Handing the defendant a suspended jail term, Judge Smith told him “it’s when they hit the ground that causes the problem”.

He said: “There’s a play on at Nottingham Playhouse called Punch, it’s the story of a man who punched someone in Market Square (Nottingham) and his head hit the pavement and he died.

"People need to watch that because when you hit someone like you did, it’s when they hit the ground that causes the problem.

"It can lead to manslaughter charges – that’s how dangerous it is.”

Judge Smith was told at Derby Crown Court how in the early hours of July 17, 2022, Raynor-Smith struck his victim with a powerful punch on Broadleys in Clay Cross.

Prior to the assault the defendant was shown on CCTV arguing with the injured man in the street.

The landlady of a nearby pub who witnessed the blow described how she heard a “really loud” impact as the complainant “hit the ground so hard she thought he would be dead”.

A prosecutor told the court: “The defendant left and the complainant was out cold. She (the landlady) described the thud as awful.”

The court heard Raynor-Smith, 35, had previous offences on his record including assault, public disorder, assault with actual bodily harm, escaping from custody and being drunk and disorderly.

However Judge Smith, noting the latest offence was nearly two years old and a pre-sentence report showed there was a prospect of rehabilitation, suspended at 12-month sentence for 18 months.

Raynor-Smith, of Darley Avenue, North Wingfield, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He was handed 200 hours of unpaid work.