"Come on hit me. Come on": Man kills his half-brother in drunken street fight

A man who confessed to killing his half-brother during a drunken street brawl has been sentenced to five years in prison. Kyan McWhir, 31, delivered a fatal punch to father-of-two John McWhir, 52, after an argument escalated out of control in July.

Initially charged with murder, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which the prosecution accepted. Bradford Crown Court was informed that police were called to reports of a fight on Crown Street in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire on July 27.

Prosecutor Michale Greenhalgh said that CCTV footage showed McWhir punching his half-brother and knocking him to the ground.

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One witness described both men as being drunk, while another saw the two men arguing with a woman attempting to intervene. Mr Greenhalgh said the witness described McWhir taunting his half-brother as they continued to walk along Crown Street, saying: "Come on hit me. Come on."

McWhir was reported to have adopted a "boxing stance" and when his half-brother attempted to strike him, the defendant punched him on the chin.

Mr Greenhalgh added: "John McWhir’s legs buckled and he fell back to the floor, the back of his head hitting the ground.

“The witness described hearing a crack as he did so and the defendant continued along Crown Street."

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An off-duty doctor began CPR on John, but when an ambulance crew arrived, they discovered his heart had stopped. Further treatment restarted his heart, but a hospital CT scan revealed bleeding and swelling to the brain.

Doctors said that the injury was not survivable, pronouncing the man dead in hospital two days later. A post mortem pointed to a head injury causing arterial rupture at the brain's base as the cause of death.

It remains unclear whether the fatal blow came from McWhir or the victim's subsequent impact with the ground. In his police interview, McWhir said: "I never intended for this to happen. I love my brother."

McWhir’s barrister Michelle Colborne KC read from a letter in which he said there wasn’t a moment of each day that he didn’t think about his brother and he was "sorry beyond words".

Jailing McWhir for five years on Monday, Judge Jonathan Gibson said John's death had had an "immense" impact on his family.

The court heard McWhir had previously been jailed for six years in 2015 for causing the death of newly-married retired prison officer Chris Smith.

McWhir, then aged 22, ploughed into Mr Smith in his Volkswagen Polo as he tried to cross Albert Street in Hebden Bridge in October 2014.

After hitting Mr Smith, McWhir ignored shouts to stop from members of the public and ran off. He was later arrested and told police: "I panicked and ran off. I’m sorry.”

McWhir’s lawyer at the time said he was guilt-ridden and the incident was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life.