Pensioner ‘beaten to death by neighbour in row over shutting estate front gate’

A man allegedly beat his neighbour to death in front of a 12-year-old boy following a row over shutting a gate, a court has heard.

James O’Neill, known to his family as Jim, was punched in the face and kicked by 57-year-old Trevor Gocan on October 6 in Covent Garden.

Gocan left the pensioner bleeding on the floor of the estate he had called home for more than 40 years.

James died of his injuries – which included a bleed to the brain and two fractured ribs – two weeks later.

Gocan denies murder.

Southwark Crown Court was told today that a family out shopping, a security guard at a nearby Zara and a chauffeur witnessed the incident.

Both men lived at Odhams Walk, an estate only 200ft from the Covent Garden Tube station.

On the morning of the attack, Gocan left his home to grab a sandwich at a Pret A Manger in the London shopping area.

James had also gone to Covent Garden to get a newspaper. Neither men realised they were neighbours.

James told his wife he was heading out for a walk to ‘earn’ his Sunday roast, a weekly ritual he and his wife enjoyed, prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said.

‘When he hadn’t returned home by 12pm, Mrs O’Neill went out to see if she could see him,’ she told the court.

‘[She] looked over a balcony and saw him on the ground below – the assault having already taken place.’

Jurors heard that the witnesses each saw the alleged assault just outside the entrance to the state, opposite the Zara on Long Acre.

The defendant and James had got into an argument over shutting the front gate to their estate, the court heard.

Mohammed Rahman, a security guard at the clothing store, saw the confrontation.

Gocan, still holding a sandwich he had bought earlier, pointed a finger at James ‘as if ready to fight’.

‘[He said] Mr Gocan stepped forward and punched Mr O’Neill in the face using the hand he still had the sandwich in,’ Wilding said of the guard’s remarks.

‘He saw something drop from Mr O’Neill’s mouth, which he thought was blood. He then saw the defendant put his sandwich on the floor and kick Mr O’Neill, with a lot of force behind it.

‘Mr O’Neill remained on his feet for two to three seconds before he fell to the floor and landed on his side.

‘The defendant then stood over him, as if ready to do more.’

A grandmother, mother, daughter and her 12-year-old brother were shopping when the girl, Chloe Samuels, saw James lying on the floor.

‘I shouted, “There’s a man being beaten up”. It all happened very quickly,’ she said.

Kate Samuels, the girl’s mother, told jurors she saw the retiree lying on the floor with blood running down his head.

Jacek Gulbicki, a chauffeur washing his car parked nearby, also heard the pair argue.

‘He heard a male shout, “I do live here”. Then, less than a minute later, he heard what he thought was the sound of someone being hit, like being punched or hitting the ground,’ Wilding said.

She added: ‘Whatever argument took place, as heard by the chauffeur, was completely unnecessary, over the top and unjustified. It may have been done in anger or in frustration.’

The trial continues.

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