A teenager from Bolton has been convicted of murder and will be sentenced next month after killing a man with a single punch following a dispute earlier this year.
Seventeen-year-old Eden Lomax attacked 43-year-old Simon Mitchell with a single blow known as a bomb when the two men clashed in Bolton town centre. Mr Mitchell had attempted to diffuse the situation by offering a handshake but Lomax retaliated by striking the victim, fracturing his jaw and causing him to hit his head on the pavement.
Lomax, who also pleaded guilty to two further unprovoked attacks, will now be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on 9 December. “Eden Lomax struck Simon Mitchell, a complete stranger to him, in a public street,” senior crown advocate for CPS North West said. “Initially, Lomax claimed he had been acting in self-defence, however, this was a lie he crafted in an attempt to avoid paying the penalty for his actions.”
The teenager assaulted two other men in the week prior to the murder. Lomax punched a 31-year-old man with learning difficulties on 7 June before launching an unprovoked attack on a drunken 41-year-old man several days later.
Deputy Chief Inspector, Pete Jackson concluded: “Simon lost his life at the hands of a young thug, who was driven by aggression and pent-up violence. He revelled in the fact that he could knock vulnerable people unconscious with a single punch.”
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