Man Convicted Of Manslaughter After Killing Victim In Street Fight

A man has been convicted of manslaughter and jailed following a fatal street fight which led to the death of one person.

Joseph Otinkoran Ankrah, 31, from Ghana pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Kingston Crown Court in London on Tuesday, 16 October.

Ankrah was charged with murder but the court accepted a plea of manslaughter.  He was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, 6 November to seven years imprisonment.

Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 22:17hrs on Thursday, 19 April, after ambulance staff suspected that a 32-year-old man found collapsed on London Road in Morden had been assaulted.

Aaron Springett, who lived locally, was taken to a south London hospital in a critical condition. He died from his injuries at 23:45hrs on Friday, 20 April.

A post-mortem examination gave cause of death as hypoxic brain injury, cardiorespiratory arrest, rupture of the heart and blunt force trauma to the chest

An investigation was launched by the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command and enquiries established that the victim was involved in a fight with another man outside a bookmakers on London Road in Merton.

At about 21:55hrs, Ankrah left the bookmakers and began arguing with Aaron in the street. The pair did not know each other. They then began holding each other and pulling each other by the collars before Ankrah slapped Aaron to the side of the face which caused him to fall to the ground.

A bystander then intervened by standing between the two men and tried to get them to leave in opposite directions.

Aaron then stood back up and began shouting at Ankrah. This angered Ankrah who marched over to Aaron and pushed him in the chest, causing him to fall backwards.

Ankrah then kicked Aaron ‘like a footballer’ at least twice in the chest before he was dragged away by the bystander. Aaron was kicked with such force that it ruptured his heart.

Aaron stood-up and began to walk away before collapsing a short distance away.

A number of enquiries were carried out including reviewing the area’s CCTV and speaking to witnesses which led to Ankrah being arrested on Saturday, 21 April. He answered “no comment” to all questions put to him, apart from when he was shown a photo of the victim to which he replied “I don’t know him, no comment.”

Ankrah was charged with murder on Sunday, 22 April.