A BRUTE has been jailed for killing a pub-goer in a Christmas Eve brawl – just hours after finding out the victim was his biological dad.
Martin Greensmith, 37, had been enjoying a festive day out with his family when his mum identified Steven Shevels as his father.
Steven then annoyed the family by sitting near them the Queen‘s Head pub in County Durham and trying to talk to them, a court heard.
Greensmith went outside to get away but his dad joined him in the beer garden minutes later.
The pair exchanged words before Greensmith told him: “You’re my dad, I don’t want to know you.”
He claimed Steven moved closer to him – causing him to “gently” push the victim back to create space.
But Steven fell to the ground and hit his head on concrete as horrified revellers rushed over to help.
Although Greensmith initially joined those assisting Steven, he fled the pub before emergency services arrived.
He was arrested at lunchtime on Christmas Day at the home he shared with his mum in Willington.
seized his phone and found he had been researching “involuntary manslaughter” and searching for solicitors.
Greensmith has now been jailed for six years after he was found guilty of manslaughter.
Teesside Crown Court heard Steven was killed by a blunt force trauma to the head.
His alcohol consumption had also limited his ability to keep breathing.
In a victim impact statement, his daughter Chloe Shevels said her father was “a quiet and timid man” who loved nature and .
She said: “He died on Christmas Eve. I found out through gossip from other people when I was opening presents.
“I now dread the thought of Christmas.”
His sister Angela Thompson said he was “the victim of an unprovoked and selfish act of violence, which took his life and took him from us far too soon”.
She added: “It’s bad enough this happened, but for it to have happened on Christmas Eve makes it a lot worse.
“Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness and togetherness. Well, that’s been taken away from us now.”
