Grieving mum shares footage of moment her son is killed by a single punch to the head

A grieving mum has shared the moment her son was killed by a “cowardly” single punch to the head.

CCTV caught the moment Brandon Sillence, 25 of Bangor, launched an attack on Dean Skillin outside a hotel in Bangor, Wales on 19 September, 2020.

Initially, Dean is seen trying to act as peacemaker to diffuse an altercation between his cousin and another man.

The killer walked up from behind and quickly struck Dean, 20, on the side of the head which caused him to fall to the ground.

Dean’s mother, Becky White, who released the footage online, told Sky News: “I felt like I needed to share it because people minimise these one-punch crimes, and I wanted to show the world.”

‘No one wants to see their son die’

Initially, she had thought no one would see the video, which was used in court, and had a hard time making it public.

“No one wants to see the moment their son dies. Sharing the video brought it all back to me,” she said, a described Dean as “a lovely person”.

“He never resorted to violence and he was so kind and thoughtful – he used to help me with his younger brother.

“You can clearly see by the video that the police have released, that Brandon ‘Coward’ Sillence punched my son from behind,” she wrote online when she shared the footage.

“Dean couldn’t even see it coming, killing him instantly because he hit him that hard and forcefully.

“What sort of coward hits someone from behind and leaves him on the floor, then walks away knowing the damage he had done?”

She added: “As the judge said he was willing to punch his own shadow that night which resulted in my son’s death, and affected our family lives forever.”

Call for tougher sentences

Dean’s family are campaigning for tougher sentences for one-punch killers, calling on the offence to be treated as murder. A petition, started by the family, has been signed by more than 18,000 people.

“I want longer sentences if you kill someone,” she told Sky News.

“They say the fist is not a weapon, but when it is those of a boxer, it is a weapon.”

She continued: “Why is the law protecting violent men? We need a law specifically for this, that says if you kill someone unprovoked you should get eight to 15 years.”

Sillence was found guilty of manslaughter – and acquitted of murder – and jailed for 10 years for the attack, which also injured Dean’s cousin Taylor Lock.

The boxing enthusiast punched Dean so violently he was brain dead before he hit the ground.

At sentencing, the judge said he had impeded police and pretended to gag at an officer, reported NorthWalesLive.

“You were playing at being ‘The big I am’ (But) 30 seconds later you extinguished the life of a young man and injured another,” he said.

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