A DRUNKEN thug who killed a 64-year-old man by punching him in the face has been sentenced to four years in jail at the Old Bailey today.

The court was told how Billy Williams, aged 24, of Luddesdon Road, Erith, had a history of “drug-fuelled violence” before he punched Charles Campbell.

The father of two already had four convictions for violence, including one for breaking a bottle over someone's head in 2007, the court was told.

Mr Campbell was approached by a drunken Williams and three friends, two of them girls aged 13 and 14, at a bus stop in Bexley Road, Erith, on September 28 last year.

An argument began after one of the group drank some of Mr Campbell's brandy.

The court heard Williams told the man to “keep quiet” but Mr Campbell replied that he was “just a boy”.

Judge Richard Hawkins told him: “It's that, in my view, that caused you to punch the deceased in the cheek.”

Mr Campbell, an alcoholic, fell back over a wall, smashing his head on the ground and suffering fatal injuries.

Judge Hawkins said: “Very serious consequences for the victim followed and for those who loved and cared for him.”

In mitigation, barrister Stephen Bailey argued Williams had acted in self-defence after Mr Campbell wielded a bottle.

Mr Bailey said: “He decided in the heat of the moment, dare I say, in the way that he knows, by using some violence.”

The barrister said his client had shown “genuine remorse” since the incident.

But though the judge said there was some provocation, he told Williams: “Your response to it was a further example of gratuitous violence.”

Williams was convicted of manslaughter at a trial in March.