Prosecutors have called for a man who admitted causing the death of the son of a National Hero to spend up to eight years behind bars.

While the Supreme Court heard that Keith Gordon died in the wake of an altercation with Clinton Smith, the assault was one of several factors that contributed to his death.

Smith, 48, pleaded guilty this month to causing the death of Mr Gordon, 70, the son of the late labour and civil rights leader E.F. Gordon, a National Hero.

Mr Gordon was found dead in a Victoria Street home on June 11, 2022.

Adley Duncan, for the Crown, said at a hearing yesterday that Smith and Mr Gordon had been in an altercation the previous night, with Smith “pummelling” Mr Gordon with blows to his head and body.

Mr Duncan said CCTV footage of the incident showed Mr Gordon laying motionless on the ground for four minutes after the altercation before getting up again.

“When he was next seen to move, apparently going home where he was eventually found, he was seen stumbling out of the premises in apparent pain,” he said.

A pathologist later found that Mr Gordon had died of a heart attack associated with multiple blunt-force injuries, along with underlying heart disease and cocaine toxicity.

Mr Duncan said: “While the death is attributable to the unlawful violence committed upon him by the defendant, there were multiple pre-existing factors that exacerbated the fatal circumstances.”

He said that given the variety of factors that caused Mr Gordon’s death, the case was not on the most serious end of the manslaughter spectrum and noted that Smith had pleaded guilty, demonstrating his remorse.

Mr Duncan also said that Smith had previously been convicted of causing death by careless driving.

In that incident, Smith was behind the wheel of a Dunkley’s Dairy truck that struck and killed Sophie Fraser-Smith, a 21-year-old model, on July 18, 2017.

While he denied that offence, he was found guilty by a majority verdict after a trial and sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

Mr Duncan said that in all the circumstances, a sentence of between six and eight years behind bars would be appropriate.

Jerome Lynch KC, council for Smith, said he would reserve his arguments for a later hearing, but foreshadowed that he would urge the court for a lower sentence then that put forward by the Crown given the facts of the case.

“Here is a defendant who could have taken the view that he could plead not guilty and have a very good chance of being acquitted, but he has chosen to accept his responsibility as a contributing factor to his man’s death,” he said.

The sentencing is scheduled to resume on Monday, with Smith remanded in custody until that date.

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