Jaywick: Bobby Nethercott jailed for death of Michelle Cooper

A man has been jailed for manslaughter over the death of a mother-of-three he attacked in the street.

Michelle Cooper, 40, from Clacton in Essex, died in hospital on 25 April last year, two days after she was set upon in Beach Way, Jaywick.

Bobby Nethercott, 31, of Jaywick, was jailed for eight years for his part in Ms Cooper's death.

Three other people, two men and a woman, were jailed in connection with the attack.

Nethercott was found guilty of manslaughter and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a three-month trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Jordan Stanley, 20, of Masterman Road, East Ham, east London, was convicted of two counts of actual bodily harm and jailed for 12 months.

Charlie Whittaker, 23, of Bemerton Gardens, Kirby Cross, Essex, was found guilty of one count of actual bodily harm and jailed for 12 months.

Demi Cole, 20, of Beach Way, Jaywick, who admitted one count of actual bodily harm, was jailed for six months.

Judge Lynch described the defendants' actions as "pointless and stupid violence".

Essex Police said Nethercott was in a group that had been drinking in the Never Say Die pub in Broadway, Jaywick, on 23 April.

Afterwards, the group headed to a house in Beach Way, where the three male defendants hit and kicked a man in the group in what police said started as a play fight.

It spilled on to the street, where Cole joined in, and another person in the group, a teenager, was assaulted, the force said.

As the group made its way along Beach Way, Nethercott, of Park Square East, set upon Ms Cooper and continued to kick her when she fell to the ground.

She never regained consciousness.

A woman who went to help Ms Cooper was attacked by one of the defendants, police said.

All four defendants were initially on trial for Ms Cooper's murder, but the judge directed the jury to clear them earlier this month due to a lack of evidence.

A statement previously released by Ms Cooper's family said she was a happy, energetic and optimistic woman who would "light up a room".

"Michelle was a big part of the local community and her death has been far reaching," the family said.

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