Daniel Allsop was no angel, but he absolutely didn’t deserve to die

Victim Daniel Allsop inhabited the dark and dangerous world of drug abuse and paid for it with his life.

But it wasn’t the crack cocaine or heroin which took the 38-year-old from his loving family – it was the lethal fists of pro boxer Mali Wright who turned to dealing while recovering from injury.

And as the powerful fighter was jailed for more than 14 years for manslaughter and supplying Class A narcotics on the streets of Blackpool and Preston, the victim’s heartbroken relatives told a judge how 10 stone Daniel was far more than the headlines had painted him.

“He was no angel,” admitted his Nottinghamshire based family in a statement read out by a prosecution barrister. “But he absolutely didn’t deserve to die.

“Daniel was ours and we will always love and remember him.”

During the sentencing hearing Judge Robert Altham heard the story of a “cheeky chappie with an absolute heart of gold who would do anything for anyone and adored his family.”

“Daniel was portrayed as homeless and a drug user with a chaotic lifestyle,” said barrister Francis McEntee. “But that hadn’t always been the case.”

He had moved to Blackpool a few years ago, said the lawyer, and his drug use escalated.

“The family would help Daniel in a heartbeat, given the chance. He was part of the family and they would always have support for him.

“The family have been devastated by Mali Wright’s actions. They have lost a son and a brother and they will never get over that.”

The court had heard that Wright lured Daniel to an alleyway off Central Drive in Blackpool after claiming he had ripped him off on a drug debt, trying to pay with a stolen TV set which turned out to be broken. As a drug addict weighing just 10st 7lbs he was no match for a hard-hitting boxer approaching peak fitness.

He knocked Daniel over with a punch to the side of the face before chasing him and hitting him twice with enough force to break his ribs and rupture his spleen. He later collapsed in a nearby McDonalds restaurant and died in hospital two days after the attack, with his family giving permission for his life support system to be switched off.

In a joint victim impact statement on behalf of the whole family his sister Amy Austin told the court that Daniel was the eldest of four siblings. He had two children of his own aged 17 and 15 who had been greatly impacted by his death.

Amy said she had struggled to sleep at night since it happened and had been trying to hold things together for the family who were all having difficulties coming to terms with Daniel’s passing.

“She has regular flashbacks from the sight of seeing Daniel in hospital and the sad appearance and realisation that it was only machines that were keeping him alive. Then there was the terrible experience of the machines being switched off. That was one of the hardest moments of their lives – that was the day they lost Daniel.”

Mr McEntee added that Amy had broken down when she saw Daniel’s photograph in the Blackpool Gazette.

Daniel’s mother, said the statement, recalled the moment she heard he was in hospital in a critical condition and her life had never been the same since.

“She bears the trauma of seeing her son being kept alive by equipment,” said Mr McEntee. “She struggles every day to know that she will never see Daniel again.”

Judge Altham told the court that Daniel had presented to those people around him as a “mild-mannered, likeable and friendly man.” He said there was much more to him than the court case had portrayed.

His sister had spoken of “his positive characteristics of which there were many. He was clearly a precious member of his family.”

Wright was sent to prison for nine years for Daniel’s manslaughter and five-and-a-half years for drugs offences to run consecutively.