Adrian Milner
with partner Gemma Stuttard and her daughter Molly
by Hayley Robinson
A father-of-two who died from a serious head
injury after an
unprovoked attack was killed unlawfully, a coroner ruled today.
Adrian Milner was walking home with
friend Michael Coomber along Church Road,
Murston, near
Sittingbourne, when a man punched him in the face and
walked off.
The force of
the single blow
caused the
48-year-old to fall to the floor and hit his
head, knocking him
unconscious.
Coroner Patricia Harding said she
was satisfied from the evidence at an inquest today a verdict of
unlawful killing was justified.
A murder investigation was
launched after the lorry driver died in hospital 12 days later.
The hunt for his attacker continues
after three men arrested over the incident were released without
charge.
Mr
Milner landed on his back with his hands still inside
his pockets and his feet crossed when he was assaulted on December 28,
2010.
An inquest into his death, held at the
Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone, today heard how a number of people
stopped to help Mr Milner.
The inquest was heard at
Maidstone's Archbishop's Palace
First on the scene was
Lacey Hider. She was
turning her car around when she noticed Mr Coomber, who she knew,
standing on the corner of Church Road and Tonge Road. He was
calling for an ambulance.
Mr
Hider, known as Ada to friends, was unconscious and laying
in the road parallel to the pavement.
She said: “It wasn’t until I got down
to Adrian’s level I could see he had blood coming out his mouth and
the back of his head and he was making funny noises.”
Prior to the attack the two men had
been drinking at the New Inn pub, in Murston Road,
Murston.
Mr Coomber said he
had drunk between
eight and nine pints but was not sure how much Mr Milner had
drunk, although he described him as being wobbly as they walked
along the road.
A post mortem revealed Mr Milner
suffered a fractured nasal bone and a fracture to the base of his
skull.
He developed pneumonia while in
hospital due to his head injury, which then led to his
death. The cause of
death was given as
a head injury.
Anyone with any information about the attack is asked
to phone police
on 01622 690690, quoting operation
Yugolsavia, or
Crimestoppers,
anonymously, on 0800
555111.