Best pal of murdered city banker Oliver Dearlove says his attacker was looking for a fight – and denies racial slur
SINGLE-punch victim Oliver Dearlove's friend has denied claims the accused attacker was called a "half chap" before the deadly blow.
The 30-year-old collapsed immediately from the "catastrophic" injury and later died.
Jurors heard how mixed-race Trevor Timon was "pumped up, fired" when he confronted Dearlove's group of friends as they chatted with a group of women.
Giving evidence, his friend Neil Durrant described Dearlove as "unconfrontational" - and dismissed allegations that he was "trying to pull".
Timon, 31, is accused of having "bad intentions" when he delivered a powerful knock-out punch.
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Anthony Orchard QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Durrant: "What's the next thing you remember?"
He replied: "A gentleman came down towards us, he just appeared. Three, four metres at most."
Asked how he seemed, Mr Durrant said: "Aggressive. Pumped up, fired. He was very confrontational, loud."
Mr Orchard said: "Did this man say anything?"
The witness said: "Yes, I can't remember the exact words. 'What are you doing, what's going on here', that sort of thing."
Mr Durrant said he was leaning against a wall because he was trying to mend his flipflop which had come loose when Timon approached.
Mr Durrant replied: "I think something would have been said. 'We don't want any trouble, we just want to go home'. The same time, 'calm down'.
"Initially he was looking at me, facing me, and then moved over towards Andrew, towards Oli."
The next thing he could remember was Mr Dearlove go down, he told the court.
He added: "I think I remember seeing him hit but I cannot remember."
Mr Durrant said: "I don't think I realised how serious it was. I thought he was just going to wake up. I think I was in shock.
"I went over to Oli and I realised he wasn't waking up. I tried to shout at him. I saw blood on the pavement."
Asked how he felt, he said: "Hysterical."
Mr Orchard asked: "What about the girls, what had happened?"
I went over to Oli and I realised he wasn't waking up. I tried to shout at him. I saw blood on the pavement.
Neil Durrant
Mr Durrant said: "Andrew shouted, 'your friend's done this'. She said, 'He isn't with us, he isn't our friend'."
During cross examination, Mr Durrant also denied the group had referred to the mixed race defendant as a "half chap".
He said he initially had the impression Timon was with the girls, adding: "The impression I got at the time, he was protecting them, or like defending them."
Asked what was said to the girls by Mr Dearlove and his group, he told the court: "I like to think it would have been something like, 'have you had a good night?'"
Courtenay Griffiths QC, defending, asked: "Were either you or your mates trying to pull?"
Mr Durrant said they had girlfriends, adding: "It would have been general chit chat. It would have been friendly conversation."
He added: "Oli was very unconfrontational."
Questioned if there was any reason why Mr Dearlove was hit rather than the others Mr Durrant said: "I am trying to work that out myself - no."
As Dearlove and his pals walked along Tranquil Vale to catch cabs home, they had a "friendly chat" with a group of women known to the defendant who had just left Morden's nightclub, the court was told.
Following the brief exchange, lasting just seconds, Timon came up to Mr Dearlove and his two friends and demanded to know what they had been talking about, jurors have heard.
Giving evidence, the victim's friend Andrew Cook said: "There was this guy.
"I don't know where he came from. He was just upon us all of a sudden. He came out of nowhere.
"He just started getting up in our faces. He started getting aggressive, shouting at us something like 'Who the f*** are you?'
"He was very angry and agitated. He pushed me. He got really close to us pointing and shouting at us, being really abusive.
"He was looking for a fight. Not a nice guy. Trying to start a fight. We didn't know why, it all happened so quickly."
Mr Cook, from Clapham, south London, said he held his hands up as if to say "what's going on here" just before his friend was punched in the face.
Describing the attack, he said: "I believe with his left hand he hit him as hard as he could. He really put his whole body into it. It was very forceful, very quick, very powerful.
"He had bad intentions, basically. It was more of an aggressive hook. He put everything he could into it. Then Oli just fell to the ground."
He told jurors Mr Dearlove made a snorting sound and then lay unconscious in the street not breathing.
Someone called an ambulance and passed the phone across to Mr Cook who took instructions on resuscitation before handing over to a passing first aider, jurors heard.
Under cross examination, Courtenay Griffiths QC, suggested someone had commented "she's with the half chap", in reference to the mixed race defendant.
But Mr Cook denied it, saying: "He just came out of nowhere. I did not know he was with the girls."
The court has heard Mr Dearlove, who lived with his girlfriend in New Eltham, died within 24 hours of the attack.
When the woman told him it was her first night out since giving birth, he commented she looked ";well" and admired her baby pictures, before Timon stormed in, jurors have heard.
Timon, from Plumstead, south east London, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
The trial continues.
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