THE distraught mother of a man who died after being punched in the head is disgusted with the short prison sentence her son's killer will serve.
Jamie Waters, 30, from Canvey Island, pleaded guilty last month to the "one-punch" manslaughter of Urim Rama, 27, an Albanian national, on August 19 this year.
His five-year jail sentence comes in the same week that Nicky Bowers, 26, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm after punching 49-year-old Kiran Vadnagra outside Hooga Bar in Chelmsford in an attack which left him in a coma.
With the festive season nearly upon us, the Chronicle, in conjunction with Safer Chelmsford Partnership, wants to raise awareness of the effects of alcohol and violence with its "Every Action has a Consequence" campaign, which will place hard-hitting posters around the city centre.
Community safety and resilience manager, Spencer Clarke, who monitors the CCTV cameras in and around Chelmsford and sees the effects of such incidents all too often, said: "This campaign is important mainly because of the tragic consequences of the incidents that have recently happened in Chelmsford.
"I don't think the perpetrators have gone out deliberately to harm someone but they have gone out and they have drunk too much and that is what happened.
"That's why alcohol-awareness is very important."
Last Wednesday, Urim Rama's mother, Bukurije Rama, 57, flew to England from Albania to see Waters jailed for five years, of which he will likely serve just half.
Mrs Rama said: "I didn't expect something like this. To me this is a ridiculous sentence. I'm not happy with the Government here because my son was innocent. We heard the facts, we saw the evidence. I'm hurt and I'm shocked – sentences like this should not be given out to people in similar circumstances.
"I want Parliament to know that they should change this law.
"Criminals in England can commit murder then say, yes, I did this, and go on to live their lives."
Mr Rama fulfilled his dream of moving to London ten years ago, where he worked as an electrician in Wandsworth.
On August 18 2012, the same weekend as the V Festival in Chelmsford, he came to the city to spend the evening with friends.
As the group were making their way home along Duke Street in the early hours of Sunday morning, they came across Jamie Waters and a friend who were goading a man and his girlfriend, whom they had never met, on the other side of the road.
Mr Rama, who was completely sober, approached Waters in an attempt to diffuse the situation, when Waters turned and punched him, knocking him unconscious.
At a packed Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, CCTV footage showed Waters throwing a bottle at the couple, while Mrs Rama wept as the court watched Waters later deliver the fatal blow to Mr Rama's head.
Prosecuting Stephen Rose said: "The Crown says that act of throwing the punch was unprovoked, was without any justification and appears to have come wholly without warning."
Waters, who was arrested the following day, said: "Oh my god, I have just had a baby with my girlfriend, I can't remember anything."
It was that same day that Mr Rama was pronounced dead in Broomfield Hospital as a result of a traumatic brain injury.
Mitigating Craig Rush said: "I'm not seeking to persuade you that there is anything that could justify what happened.
"He has limited, if no recollection of events on the night."
Mr Rush explained that Waters was drunk that night and, after his attack on Mr Rama, he was pursued, knocked unconscious and stamped on in vengeance.
Judge Charles Gratwicke said: "Mr Rama had come to this country to better himself and to support his family at home in Albania.
"He had come to Chelmsford that night with his friends to enjoy himself and they and he were on their way home when he had the misfortune to come upon you."
He added that Waters, who displayed "yobbish behaviour" was "quite clearly looking for trouble" and hoped that the sentence he received would act as a deterrent to others.
"There's no sentence I can pass that can in any way heal the pain, remove the loss, remove the sense of hopelessness, restore a son to his parents, restore a brother to his brothers," said Judge Gratwicke.
"A life has been lost. Dreams and hopes have been shattered, all as a result of your drunken violence."
As he rubbed his eyes, Waters was sentenced to five years in prison amid gasps from his friends and family. He did not look up as he was led away to the cells.
Outside court, Mrs Rama, paid tribute to her son.
"As a mother I will remember everything that I have lived with him – all his words, all his movements," she said.
"He was such a good boy, such a well-behaved boy. He was supporting us, he was our pillar."
