A man has been jailed for two years and nine months over the death of a 78-year-old bus passenger in Wigston, Leicestershire, more than four years after the incident.

Darren Bakewell, 62, of Bentinghouse Gardens, Leicester, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, 12 November, after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Christopher Pearson.

Bakewell was convicted following a trial at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, 14 September.

The incident at the bus stop

The incident happened just after 2pm on Saturday, 15 October 2022, in Long Street, Wigston.

Mr Pearson was getting off a bus which Bakewell was getting onto when the incident took place, Leicestershire Police said.

A post-mortem examination and further examinations concluded that Mr Pearson's cause of death was sepsis, infection in his bone and fractures of his ribs and vertebra.

A long wait for a verdict

More than four years passed between the incident in October 2022 and the sentence handed down this week. The case was heard at Leicester Crown Court, where a jury found Bakewell guilty of manslaughter in September, before the matter moved to Northampton Crown Court for sentencing.

The sentence brings to a close a case that began with an everyday journey on a local bus and ended with the death of a 78-year-old man.

Police reaction

Detective Constable Rachael Lee, who led the investigation, described the case as a devastating incident which should never have happened.

Bakewell will now serve his prison sentence for the manslaughter of Mr Pearson.