POLICE have pledged to investigate any new lines of inquiry into the ‘senseless’ death of a Bradford grandfather after a judge stated that the attacker who delivered the fatal blow was still at large.

Daniel Mullaney, 29, was yesterday jailed for 32 months for felling Peter Burns with a single punch that broke his jaw in two places.

Mullaney, of Lampards Close, Allerton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Burns, 54, after the manslaughter charge against him was dropped.

He was caught on CCTV in a taxi that night saying: “So I just banged him and he went to sleep.”

But Bradford Crown Court heard that someone else then hit or kicked Mr Burns, fracturing his skull as he lay unconscious on the ground.

Although the case against Mullaney at first looked like “a classic one punch manslaughter,” several pathologists agreed that his single blow was very unlikely to have caused the fatal bleeding on Mr Burns’ brain.

Mr Burns died in Leeds General Infirmary three days after he was attacked in the car park of the Queen Hotel in Thornton Road, Fairweather Green, Bradford, on May 28.

He had been attending a private birthday party there for up to 70 guests.

Prosecutor Sam Green QC said the atmosphere soured after midnight and Mr Burns and his son John left the pub.

Disorder broke out, involving up to 30 people, when John Burns pushed his father in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards.

Mullaney then punched Peter Burns, who went down with “a smacking noise” as his head struck the floor.

Mr Burns, a lorry driver for Bradford company, Sherborne Upholstery, sustained blows to up to three areas of his head and neck in the violence, causing a double fracture of the jaw and the fractured skull that killed him.

One pathologist found that he had been struck on the head with an implement. Another said that while he could not entirely exclude a single punch, it was very unlikely to have caused all the injuries.

Mr Green said he had explained at length to Mr Burns’ family why the manslaughter charge then became “unworkable and doomed to fail”.

Praising Mr Burns’ relatives for their “enormous dignity,” Mr Green stated: “One can understand why the family is asking why this is not a homicide case.”

Mullaney’s solicitor advocate, Andrew Walker, said: “There are no winners here in this case.”

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said “a disorderly scrum” broke out in the pub car park after people who had been drinking, and had no reason to intervene, got involved in a dispute between Mr Burns and his son John.

Peter Burns fell down “very fast, backwards” when Mullaney hit him.

“Although the defendant’s blow fractured his jaw in two places and felled him, that, although not ruled out, is the less preferable cause of the brain injury.

“It seems, sadly and appallingly, that while he was on the floor, somebody else had stepped in and punched or kicked him in the head when he was unconscious, and fractured his skull. It was another forceful and wicked act,” the judge said.

After the case, Mr Burns’ family said: “No words will ever be able to reflect our anguish from the loss of our father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.

“Peter was a true friend to many and we have so much pride for the decent, considerate and generous man our Peter was.

“Peter’s death was avoidable, unnecessary and completely senseless. We did not lose Peter, he was taken from us in a vicious and violent way; one that he did not deserve.

“We would like to stress that Peter was not injured and killed as part of a fight but was a victim of a fatal attack.

“Our family now have to face the future knowing that ultimately, nobody is being held accountable for his death.”