VIOLENT thug Eden Lomax, 17, of Northwood Crescent, Bolton, was convicted of murder at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday 21 November, following a spate of unprovoked one ‘bomb’ punch attacks that tragically killed his final victim.
Lomax threatened to ‘bomb’ Mitchell if he didn’t leave, when Mitchell asked what a ‘bomb’ was Lomax punched the victim in the face
Lomax, proud of his ability to knock people unconscious with one full-force punch, had first attacked a 31-year-old man with learning difficulties at a bus stop on Blackfriars Street on Friday 7 June 2013, leaving the victim unconscious on the floor for a number of minutes.
The second attack took place on the same street only four days later, with Lomax punching a drunken 41-year-old man through the doors of a waiting bus on Blackfriars Street, leaving him stricken and incapacitated on the floor of the bus.
The third and fatal final incident took place a week after the first, when Lomax and a group of friends encountered an inebriated Simon Mitchell, 43, in Bolton town centre.
Mitchell had recently lost his job and had been out with a friend to cheer him up. At around 9pm Mitchell began to make his way home through Victoria Square where he encountered the group including Lomax and struck up a conversation with them.
By this point, Lomax, who had already threatened another two men before the incident, was said to be in an aggressive mood and unwilling to listen to Mitchell talk about his problems, even though the victim hadrepeatedly offered to shake the offenders hand in order to diffuse the situation.
Losing patience, Lomax threatened to ‘bomb’ Mitchell if he didn’t leave, when Mitchell asked what a ‘bomb’ was Lomax punched the victim in the face with such force that it broke his jaw and caused him to fall horizontally backwards, hitting his head on the pavement and suffering huge brain trauma.
Some of Lomax’s friends, seeing Mitchell was clearly seriously injured, came to the aid of the victim and called an ambulance, while Lomax casually walked off and continued on to a friend’s house to play computer games.
Police and paramedics battled to save Simon’s life but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Lomax, pleading self-defence, was arrested two days later.
Police made the arrest two days after the final attack
Detective Chief Inspector Pete Jackson, of the Major Incident Team, said:
“Simon lost his life at the hands of a young thug, who was driven by aggression and pent-up violence and revelled in the fact that he could knock vulnerable people unconscious with a single punch, which he referred to as his 'bomb'.
“Like all cowards and bullies he targeted people who he knew could not defend themselves or fight back. Twice in the previous week he had knocked vulnerable men to the ground with a single punch for no reason whatsoever.
“It was a tragic way for Simon's evening to end. It has left his father and family devastated. My thoughts are with them and I hope that the justice delivered today will provide some comfort to them.
“I hope this incident serves as a timely reminder of the real dangers to life involved when people throw a punch. Too many people have lost their lives in such incidents. I would urge people to think before they ever contemplate throwing a punch, you could cost someone their life and spend the rest of your own in a prison cell.”
Eden Lomax will be sentenced on the 9 December 2013.
