Fourth man jailed for Liverpool brawl which left student dead

Jul 2 2009 by Chloe Griffiths, Liverpool Daily Post

THE final member of a four-strong group who killed a Liverpool student during a drunken brawl has been put behind bars.

Sion Hardy, 24, died from a devastating blow to the head after being assaulted by the group of John Moores University (JMU) students in a city centre tunnel following a night out.

The civic design student was the innocent victim of a revenge attack intended for his childhood friend, whom he had bumped into out side the Nation nightclub, in November, 2007.

Richard Faustino, 22, was yesterday jailed for four years for his part in the brawl.

He is the fourth JMU student to be locked up for the attack. Friends Kevin O’Dea, of Co Donegal, and Simon Taylor, of Ashton-in-Makersfield, are already serving seven years after being found guilty of manslaughter by a jury last May. Thomas Canning, 22, of Crickhowell, Powys, was charged in the wake of their conviction and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was jailed for four years in February. On Monday, Faustino, of Salkeld Avenue, Appleby, Cumbria, also entered a guilty plea on the basis of “joint enterprise”.