James Tobin, 21, had slapped his girlfriend Kellie Gillard in a 'post-sex argument' causing her to fall out of bed and bang her head
An amateur boxer has been jailed for 16 and a half years for killing his girlfriend and was caught when police secretly bugged his house.
James Tobin, 21, slapped his girlfriend Kellie Gillard, 25, in a “post-sex argument” causing her to fall out of bed and bang her head on the wall.
Kellie Gillard, 25, died from a ruptured artery in hospital but Tobin denied being to blame for her fall in the bedroom at his home in Port Talbot.
Swansea Crown Court heard how detectives put a secret recording device in his home to hear him confess to his father to the killing.
Prosecutor Vincent Coughlin told how police installed a covert listening device in his house which heard him saying to his father that he “put her to sleep”.
Mr Coughlin said: “Officers recorded a conversation between Tobin and his father in which he said his partner had been “chopsy” to him and so he had ‘put her to sleep’.
“The device also picked up on his father saying: ‘You sparked her?’. Tobin replied: “Yes”.
'Must have delivered a number of forceful blows'
Tobin was later arrested on suspicion of murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Mr Coughlin said the couple had a raging row after having after sex. He said Kellie kicked him in the head before Tobin slapped her.
Mr Coughlin said: “During the argument, she kicked him to the nose, causing his nose to bleed and damaging a filling.
“He concedes that in a short exchange of violence, after he had been kicked in the head, he must have delivered a number of forceful blows with an open hand.
“She collided with the wall and fell from the bed.
“He was not able to say whether it would have been with an open hand or clenched fist.”
Mr Coughlin said Kellie was “as unconscious as a living human being could be” when she was rushed to hospital in April.
Her organs helped save six lives
She was put on a life-support machine before her organs could be donated by her mother Tracey Gillard.
Her organs went on to save the lives of six others.
In a victim statement, Mrs Gillard said: “Our world fell apart when our beautiful Kellie was taken away from us.
“My last memory of my beautiful daughter was her in hospital fighting for her life.
“She didn’t stand a chance with James Tobin. I am no longer capable of smiling, let alone laughing - all my happiness is gone.
The statement also highlighted how Kellie had agreed to become an organ donor before her death.
“Through her death, she has gone on to save the lives of six others.
Tobin of Port Talbot, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and said he was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.
The court heard he was twice the legal drink-drive limit but she was under the limit. Both had history of cocaine use.
'You pose a significant danger to the public'
In a statement read to the court, he said: “I cannot blame anyone else for what happened that night or how I conducted myself after it.
“I cannot begin to tell you, and more importantly Kellie’s family, how sorry I am.”
Ignatious Hughes QC, defending, said: “This is a heartfelt and genuine expression of his remorse. This was not a man going berserk and killing somebody deliberately.”
Sentencing Tobin to 16 and a half years in prison, Judge Keith Thomas said: “You are a trained boxer and have previous convictions for violence.
“You pose a significant danger to the public of serious personal injury.
“I take into account you are still 21 years of age, and I take into account your letter and it is accepted that you had no intention of causing serious bodily harm.”
Ms Gillard, 54, received The Order of St John UK Award for Organ Donation in memory of her daughter after allowing her organs to be transplanted to save others.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/amateur-boxer-jailed-killing-girlfriend-12482947
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