They arrest a man who caused the death of an 86-year-old Army veteran with a single punch.
Frank Fishwick was attacked after confronting a group of youths who had gathered outside his apartment in Fulwood, Preston, on 10 September.
He initially refused an ambulance, but died in hospital the next day as a result of internal bleeding.
Mohammed Al Aaraj, 19, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court to four years in a juvenile institution.
Mr Fishwick, a former Royal Engineer, was at home in The Paddock when he was disturbed by a group of youngsters at around 15:00 BST.
Francis McEntee, the accuser, said Fishwick, whom he called a “fighting older man,” confronted the group, first through his window and then walking out toward them.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the veteran became frustrated with the situation and directed racially offensive language at one of the teens.
Syrian refugee Al Aaraj, from Sheffield Drive in Preston, then punched Fishwick in the face, breaking his nose.
In police body camera footage shown to the court, Fishwick was seen in his apartment, holding his bloody nose and telling an officer that he asked the group to move, but they refused.
Mr. Fishwick told police officers that he did not want medical attention, but his nose continued to bleed and he was admitted to hospital later that day.
A post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be internal bleeding.
In sentencing Al Aaraj, Judge Robert Altham said: “The comments made by Mr. Fishwick form part of the background to this case, however, even the comments cannot begin to excuse the accused, a young man, who beat to an 86-year-old man. old in the face”.
Al Aaraj was charged with manslaughter, which he initially denied.
CPS said it changed his guilty plea after officers presented CCTV evidence and a police officer’s account of Mr. Fishwick.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Paul Robinson described it as an “extremely tragic case”.
“Frank was frustrated and used inappropriate language that cannot be forgiven, but Al Aaraj and his friends could have just walked away and decided not to,” he said.
Robinson said his death had been “devastating” for his daughter, who had not seen her father for a long time due to the pandemic.
In a statement, Mr. Fishwick’s daughter, Judith Taylor Fishwick, who lives in the United States, said the lives of her relatives were “turned upside down” by the attack.
His father was taken from his loved ones by a “cruel act of violence”, he added.
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