Death of Thomas Kelly
Australian man who died due to a sucker punch / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Kelly (6 January 1994 ā 9 July 2012)[1] was an eighteen-year-old male from Sydney, Australia, who was the victim of a random one-punch assault as he walked down Victoria Street in Kings Cross, New South Wales, on 7 July 2012.[2] Kelly was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital with serious head injuries and remained in intensive care for two days.[2] He never regained consciousness, and died at 7:59pm on 9 July 2012. His attacker, 19-year-old Kieran Loveridge, was charged and convicted of manslaughter in 2014.[2][3]
Kelly's death caused public outrage and received widespread media coverage.[4] The case helped initiate legal reforms to New South Wales drinking laws, which saw the introduction of mandatory sentencing and lockout laws in 2014.[4][5] These changes have been criticised by legal experts and members of the public, who believe they will not be effective deterrents and may impact Sydney's nightlife economy.[5]