Man thrown to his death after sleeping with his jailed friend’s girlfriend

UK: Two thugs have been jailed for killing their friend after confronting him over an alleged affair with one of their girlfriends.

Young father Joseph Wake had fled from a house after being confronted by Colin Smith and Craig Melhuish and accused of having an affair with Smith's girlfriend Natalie Male while he was serving a short jail sentence.

Mr Wake, 29, was chased by the pair down a grass bank and then propelled head first through a hedge and over a 5ft wall onto the pavement below.

He suffered fatal head injuries in the fall.

All three men had been drinking extra strength beer which Smith had stolen from a nearby shop before Melhuish punched Mr Wake in the face, a court heard.

The victim walked out with a can of beer but was followed across the road and onto a sharply sloping triangular piece of scrubland on the corner of a busy road.

The fatal attack in Exeter last May was watched from an upstairs window on the other side of the road by Polish witness Damian Bratek who saw Mr Wake chased across the open ground before slipping near the edge.

He went out of view for a few moments but then appeared as he was propelled head first through the hedge and over the wall beyond head first and with his arms by his side like an Olympic skeleton bob racer.

Both men said they were nowhere near Mr Wake when he fell but the jury at Exeter Crown Court rejected their story.

Smith, 34, of no fixed abode, and Melhuish,38, of Exeter, denied manslaughter but were found guilty and each jailed for seven years.

Judge Graham Cottle told them: "Neither of you have shown a shred of remorse or any acknowledgement of your responsibility for this needless waste of the life of Joe Wake.

"I will not dwell on the fact that everyone on that day, including Joe, had consumed a significant amount of alcohol.

"There was a serious falling out over the fact that while Smith was serving a prison sentence his girlfriend has some sort of relationship with Joe.

"I don't really know whether that alone or a combination of other matters explains what happened but the time came when there was some violence and Melhuish punched Joe in the face.

"He took his leave and for whatever reason you both pursued him across the grass bank where a witness saw him slip behind a hedge.

"What then happened is that you took hold of him and propelled him head first through the hedge into what you knew to be Okehampton Street below.

"Had you intended the outcome that occurred you would now be convicted of the even more serious offence of murder but I am satisfied you intended some harm to him."

Judge Cottle continued: "He sustained injuries which could not be survived but in the aftermath you took him back to the address and in effect stuck him in a corner when he was unconscious and demonstrably very seriously injured.

"You simply left him for a period which was perhaps as long as two hours before summoning assistance.

"So a life was lost needlessly.

"I have read the victim impact statement from Joe's mother.

"She simply cannot comprehend life without her son.

"She describes herself feeling numb and if she feels even slightly happy, she feels guilty about having that emotion."