The daughter of a man who died after an assault said she was angry and confused when she learnt about the violent attack that led to his death.

Karen Sewell, the daughter of Keith Gordon, wrote in a victim impact statement read out in the Supreme Court: “The loss of my father in such a brutal manner is overwhelming.

“I find myself constantly grappling with feelings of anger, confusion and sorrow. It’s difficult to comprehend why some one would commit such a heinous act against him.”

While she wrote that her father lived a life of ups and downs, he had a family who cared deeply for him and she cherished being able to spend time with him.

“He took pleasure in helping me maintain my home,” she said. “I will miss the prideful look on his face after he completed a project like painting a house or repairing a roof himself.

“His untimely death robbed him of a chance to meet his first great-grandchild, an opportunity that was taken from him too soon.

“I miss my father’s laughter, his wisdom and the simple joy of his presence.”

Clinton 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, previously told the court 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.

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 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.

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

At a continuation of his sentencing hearing yesterday Jerome Lynch KC, who represented Smith, said a lower sentence would be more fitting given the number of factors that contributed to Mr Gordon’s death.

He told the court that there was a “dispute” between the two pathologists who reviewed the case, with one finding that it was not possible to link the assault to the death.

Mr Lynch said that because of the gap in time between the attack and the death, it was possible Mr Gordon had used cocaine after the altercation, or that he had suffered additional blunt-force trauma in a fall sometime after the event.

“What’s clear is that he had cocaine in his body and that would have been a contributing factor in his death,” he said.

While Mr Lynch maintained that Smith would have had a good chance of being found not guilty if he had proceeded to trial, his client accepted that his actions had contributed to the death of Mr Gordon.

He acknowledged that Smith was previously jailed for causing the death of a woman by careless driving but said the court should not consider it as a previous conviction for a similar offence.

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.

Smith admitted that he had “dozed off” while driving the vehicle but said the truck failed to respond to his attempt to avoid the fatal collision.

While he pleaded not guilty, he was found guilty by a majority verdict after a trial and sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

Puisne Judge Alan Richards adjourned the matter until tomorrow, when he will sentence Smith.

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