Tory MP seeks ‘fairer justice’ on one-punch killings after father’s shocking death

18 February 2021, 15:35

An MP whose father was killed by a single punch is seeking “fairer justice” for victims and families, with the launch of an All-Party Parliamentary Group.

Dehenna Davison, Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland, was 13 when she lost her 35-year-old father Dominic after he was killed with one punch.

She told LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty that she was at her grandmother’s for the weekend while her father was having a drink with friends in the pub before going home for a takeaway with her mother.

“We got a phone call to say that my dad had passed out and we weren’t really sure what had happened.

“Next thing we know, we’re on route to the hospital and the paramedics spent 45 minutes trying to revive him to no avail and my dad had died.”

Ms Davison continued, “We learnt a little bit later that the reason for that was that he’d received one punch which caught him on the side of the head at exactly the wrong spot with exactly the wrong amount of force.

“It ruptured a blood vessel in his neck and killed him instantly.”

However, the perpetrator was released from prison after only 18 months.

She told Shelagh, “There was a court case that followed and certainly my family didn’t really feel like there was true justice delivered.

“Speaking to other families since then that’s a very clear theme throughout for victims of one-punch assaults and for their families.

“At 13 I decided I wanted to do something to try and make a difference and either stop this from happening or make sure that families feel fully supported through this and feel that sense of justice.”

Ms Davison said she “found politics” at 16 and thought this was the way she could “keep that promise” to herself that she would seek justice for one-punch assaults.