Video shows moment thug fatally punches bank boss in sickening unprovoked attack …as family slam ‘insult’ jail sentence
SICKENING video shows the moment a thug knocked a bank chief off his feet with a fatal punch – as the victim’s family slammed the attacker’s “insulting” sentence of just three years in jail.
Paul Mason, 52, died after six months in a coma following the brutal attack by Steven Allen outside the Ivy club in London’s Soho.
Shocking CCTV footage released today shows Allan, 35, confronting Paul, before punching him to the floor.
He then landed a second blow, knocked his victim unconscious and caused his head to bounce off the pavement with a sickening crack.
Allan then took the phone that Paul was holding and walked off as the millionaire CEO of Qatari National Bank lay lifeless in the street.
The row leading up to the senseless assault in December 2020 is believed to have blown up because Allan wrongly believed Paul had taken his friend’s mobile phone.
In the video, which was shown to a trial jury, he can be seen grabbing at the device several times before landing the fatal blows.
A group of off-duty critical care nurses rushed to help Paul but were ultimately unable to save him from his serious head injuries.
Allan, from Hook, Hampshire, was cleared of murder at the Old Bailey but admitted manslaughter and was handed a sentence of 36 months in prison.
Paul’s family slammed the term as “insulting” and vowed to appeal alongside the CPS and Met Police.
His sister Rachel, speaking after the trial, said: “It’s insulting to us, to Paul’s memory, to the wider society.
“What is it that makes it OK that somebody only spends that amount of time in prison and they’ve killed someone?
“You’d get more for tax evasion.”
She added that Allan punched her brother repeatedly and that the sentence did not reflect “the severity of his actions”.
Rachel continued: “We’re still traumatised by it. We hoped once he was in prison we would be able to move forward but this has just made it so much more difficult. It’s just wrong.”
During the trial, she told the court: “Every day I feel shock and disbelief when I think about what he has done to Paul, almost every night I have nightmares because of him.”
“He has shown no genuine remorse at all and has shockingly been out on bail, to enjoy his life.”
The family also blame Allan for the death of Paul’s brother, who took his own life three months after his death.
Sentencing Allan, Judge Michael Topolski said: “The circumstances that led to the defendant causing the death of a perfectly respectable, wholly innocent stranger who happened to be passing by are as extraordinary as they are tragic.”