A man who admitted causing the death of a senior has been sentenced to spend more than six years behind bars.

Clinton Smith, 48, pleaded guilty this month to a charge of manslaughter in connection with the 2022 death of Keith Gordon, the son of Bermuda National Hero E.F. Gordon.

The court heard that Smith had battered Mr Gordon in an altercation the evening before he was found dead in his home.

Puisne Judge Alan Richards sentenced Smith to six years and eight months behind bars, with the two-plus years he has already spent in custody taken into account.

He said that while it was unclear what the cause of the altercation was, it was accepted by the Crown that Smith did not intend to kill the 70-year-old or cause him grievous bodily harm.

“While it is right to acknowledge that you used no weapons in the course of the violence, it seems to me that it should have been obvious to you that treating a much older man in such a way would pose a serious risk to his health,” Mr Justice Richards said.

“Sadly, it appears on the evidence to have contributed to his death, which followed soon after the incident, although no one can say precisely how soon.”

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

Prosecutors said that before his death, Smith had “pummelled” Mr Gordon with blows to his head and body.

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

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

Smith apologised for his actions in the Supreme Court. He said: “I never intended for this to happen. I’m very sorry for everything that happened.”

Adley Duncan, for the Crown, called for a sentence of between six and eight years given the multiple factors that contributed to Mr Gordon’s death.

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.”

Jerome Lynch, KC, council for Smith, argued for a lower sentence, stating the defendant had a good chance of being found not guilty had the matter proceeded to trial.

“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 this man’s death,” he said.

While Mr Justice Richards said he would give Smith full credit for his guilty plea, he would not go beyond that because several factors could have played a role in the plea.

“First, the Crown was prepared to accept a plea to manslaughter, whereas any trial would have been for murder, carrying with it the risk of a conviction for the greater offence,” he said.

“Second, having been in custody since June 2022, you would have served a significant portion of the custodial portion of any sentence likely to be imposed on you for the offence of manslaughter.”

Mr Justice Richards also said that he would consider Smith’s previous conviction for causing death by careless driving when determining his sentence.

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 Justice Richards said: “I agree that a record of violent offending would be a more serious concern, but at the time of this offence Smith had more reason than most to appreciate the fragility of human life, having already been the cause of one death and received a custodial sentence as a result.

“In my view, he had all the more reason not to offer Mr Gordon unlawful violence.”

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