A jockey who had taken cocaine and had been drinking before killing a ‘vulnerable’ pensioner in a brawl outside a pub has been jailed for three years today.
Levi Williams, 27, hit pensioner Richard Wingrove in a fight outside of a pub in Newmarket, Suffolk – the historic home of horse racing.
The 71-year-old was left in critical condition after being rushed to hospital following the attack, but died ten days later on March 8, 2025.
The 27-year-old has now been sentenced to three years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Peterborough Crown Court in April.
Williams has previously been charged with murder; however, the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter, and he was bailed ahead of his sentencing.
A fight involving four men broke out outside the Waggon & Horses pub on March 8 at about 3.40pm, the court was previously told.
Mr Wingrove, who was celebrating his birthday and wearing a cowboy hat, and his son Jamie had been drinking at pub in the town, the court previously heard.
The landlord threw them out after he decided they had drunk enough. The pair ‘tried to return to the pub on a number of occasions’ but were ejected again.
Williams and a jockey friend had been at the same pub watching horse racing before leaving to catch a taxi back to work.
The pair later became involved in a ‘confrontation’ with the father and son, which ‘resulted in a physical punching fight in the high street’, Peter Gair, prosecuting, said.
Pictured: Levi Williams, 27, who was charged with the murder of Richard Wingrove, 71, after the pensioner died ten days after the altercation in Newmarket
Williams has been jailed to three years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Peterborough Crown Court
Today at his sentencing, Jane Oldfield, prosecuting, told the court both jockeys were present while the Wingroves ‘were involved with altercations with the pub staff’.
CCTV footage shown in court appeared to show the two jockeys blocking Mr Wingrove from entering the pub.
A ‘verbal exchange between the defendant and the Wingroves’ ensured after the jockeys left the pub, she said.
Williams then threw a punch at Jamie and then Mr Wingrove, before falling to the floor, Ms Oldfield added. The older man got back up and ‘rejoined the fray’, she said.
The altercation continued, and Ms Oldfield said that Williams ‘suddenly punched Richard Wingrove to the head, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement’.
Mr Wingrove died in hospital in Cambridge on March 18, having initially been placed in an induced coma after a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain.
He had been given CPR by paramedics at the scene, before being taken to hospital with a fractured skull, blood clots and contusions to his brain, the court heard.
Ms Oldfield said it was probable that his severe injuries were caused by blunt force trauma as a result of the punch or hitting the pavement, ‘or a combination of both’.
Williams and his friend tried to get into a car driven by a friend who happened to be passing, before they were restrained by members of the public.
Williams, now of Trefonen, Oswestry, Shropshire, was described as ‘drunk, shaken and saying words to the effect of ‘it was an accident’ when arrested.
He also tested positive for cocaine, the court was told, while he also admitted to drinking ‘two or three pints’ of Stella Artois before the incident.
He told officers that he had become aware of two men being drunk and remonstrating with the landlord.
Williams said he had, and his friend had left to go home at the same time as Mr Wingrove and his son, who approached them aggressively in the street.
He said: ‘Punches were thrown both ways. Any injuries caused were unintentional.’
Williams, who formerly lived in Newmarket, was originally charged with murder, which he denied.
The charge was later dropped after prosecutors accepted his guilty plea for manslaughter.
The court heard how he had spent 167 days in custody after the incident before being bailed to live with his mother and stepfather in Oswestry, Shropshire
Judge Sean Enright said Mr Wingrove was ‘a vulnerable victim’ and Williams had been drinking and taking cocaine.
Accepting Williams had shown remorse, and giving full credit for his early guilty plea the judge handed the 27-year-old a three-year prison sentence.
Pointing out that Williams was ‘not the aggressor at the start’. and the initial blows ‘could be classed as self-defence’, the judge added: ”The last punch can’t be so justified.
‘You and your friend could have just trotted away. This is a case where only custody can be justified.
‘You were in drink and had taken cocaine, and hit a vulnerable man in the head which caused his death.’
Judge Enright said: ‘This man was killed by a punch in a fracas in the street. He was 71 and you were 25. He walked with a stick and had poor eyesight.’
Williams’ girlfriend who was in the public gallery with his family members wept loudly as sentence was passed.
Mr Wingrove’s daughter Louise said he had died when his granddaughter was pregnant with his first grandchild.
His death came while they were in the process of writing to each other in the hope of getting back together after they had been estranged for 15 years.
In a victim impact statement, she said she had been left suffering from ‘disturbed sleep, panic attacks, anxiety and a notable stutter’ following his death.
Louise said of Williams: ‘I hope he listens carefully to my statement and fully understands the consequences of his actions’.
She added that she hoped Williams felt genuine remorse for his actions that day, before concluding: ‘May God have mercy on his soul.’
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Hannah Barrett, said Mr Wingrove had been ‘celebrating his birthday’ when he lost his life in a ‘completely avoidable act of violence’, causing ‘devastation for so many people’.
William England, mitigating, said Williams had ‘never been involved in any violence of any sort in the past’.
He had previously requested that Williams be given a lesser sentence due to the ‘truly exceptional circumstances’ of the case.
Williams had shown real remorse and thought about his actions every day, and the pain he had inflicted on Mr Wingrove’s family, he added.
‘He will have to live with the consequences of what happened for the rest of his life,’ he said.
A probation officer who had spoken to Williams blamed his actions on an impulsive act, substance misuse and poor decision making, Mr England previously added.
Mr England quoted the probation officer as saying: ‘He is clearly very affected by the enormity of his actions and spoke with empathy towards his victim’s family.’
The court heard Williams had previous convictions for drug driving in 2018 and drink-driving in 2023 – convictions which had previously derailed his career.
It was almost derailed previously when he was suspended for 18 months after testing positive for the second time for cocaine.
He was given the ban in September 2023 after he took drugs in a pub toilet three days before a race.
A British Horseracing Authority judicial panel heard that he also ‘consumed a quantity of alcohol such that he was intoxicated’.
Williams didn’t buy the Class A drug but was ‘offered it by someone else’, the panel was told.
The positive test was taken at Windsor racecourse before Williams rode the following day, May 2, at Wolverhampton.
Here, he received an 18-day improper riding ban and a seven-day whip suspension.
Williams had previously been banned for six months in 2021 following a positive test for cannabis and cocaine.
He was given his licence again on the condition that he ‘practice continued abstinence from all substances’.
Over the course of his flat-ride career, he has competed 156 times and won 12 races altogether.
