Man 'pleased' after fatal punch

A 24-year-old man who seemed pleased after killing a former footballer with a single punch was jailed for four years n Britain today.

Atef Jablaoui, 27, died from brain injuries three days after being knocked to the ground outside a block of flats near Marble Arch, central London, in March 2009.

Omar Mouhib, a friend who was living in one of the flats, punched the victim after the pair had a petty row about a woman.

Mouhib, a petty criminal from France, fled back to his country before being extradited to face trial in Britain.

The 24-year-old was sentenced today after being found guilty of manslaughter by an Old Bailey jury.

Mr Jablaoui, from Tunisia, had come to Britain to study English and was living in Harrow, north London.

He had previously played for a regional football team in his home country and had a trial for the national side.

His family were unable to come to court for today’s sentencing because of the turbulent situation in Tunisia.

But in a victim impact statement, his brother Sabar Jablaoui said what happened had come “like a thunderbolt” to them.

Judge Martyn Zeidman told Mouhib: “The family of the victim will suffer a life sentence of grief.”

The judge accepted that he had not meant to kill, but added: “This blow that you inflicted was not in any sense a half-hearted blow. It was a punch described as forceful. Atef’s legs buckled.

“After doing that there was a bit of a swank about you as if you were pleased that you had been able to knock the man out.”