Plasterer jailed six years for killing a banker in London

The grief-stricken girlfriend of banker Oliver Dearlove has tearfully told how her heart was 'obliterated' the night a jobless plasterer killed her 'Mr Right' with a single punch.

Claire Wheatley wept as she paid tribute to her 'kind and gentle' boyfriend, shortly before violent thug Trevor Timon, 31, was jailed for six years for killing Mr Dearlove in an 'unprovoked and gratuitous' attack on a night out.

'Losing Oli has left me with nothing. I have not only lost my boyfriend, the man I was meant to marry and start a family and future with, I have also lost my best friend,' Miss Wheatley said as she broke down in tears.



'One punch took away the love of my life in a heartbeat.'

She later said at a Scotland Yard press conference: 'We were planning on buying a house, I was trying to save some money to put towards a big property.

'We were planning on having children. It was something we both discussed and unfortunately now can't happen.

'He was the one I was meant to have done all of that stuff with, get married, have children and live a great life together.'



Timon, who had a history of violence, denied intending to seriously hurt Mr Dearlove last summer and said he was just 'p***** off' at one of his friends for making a racist comment. He delivered a 'powerful' left hook to the 30-year-old's head, knocking him unconscious, a court heard.

Timon, of Plumstead, south-east London, admitted manslaughter but was cleared of murder at the Old Bailey after a jury deliberated for three hours.



Today he was handed a jail term of six years with a further five years on extended licence as he was considered a 'significant risk' to the public in the future.

Mr Dearlove's mother Joy Wright and girlfriend Claire Wheatley sat in court throughout the Old Bailey trial supported by other family members.

Today Miss Wheatley broke down in tears as she described the loss of her 'Mr Right', who used to hold a position at Coutts - the bank used by the Queen - from a single senseless act.

She told how she received a text from the 30-year-old banker saying 'Love you bub' just hours before he was fatally punched by Timon in the street.



The nurse said: 'Oli and I first met on New Year’s Eve the year 2013. I saw him from across the room and knew instantly that he was something special.

'Oli was what I would call Mr Sensible. He never made any decision without properly researching it or thinking it through.

'He was the most gentle, kind and relaxed person I have ever known and a true gentleman which is why so many people liked him.'



The couple were making plans for the future before the 'dreaded knock on our door' on August 28 last year.

Miss Wheatley said: 'I will never be able to find it in my heart to forgive the actions of that one individual because I feel to do so would be to accept what happened and I cannot accept what happened and I cannot accept that one punch took away the love of my life in a heartbeat or that one person took it upon themselves to take someone's life in their own hands, literally.

'Oli did not deserve to be taken from us in the manner which he was. This was not a case of wrong place, wrong time, because how can being in Blackheath having drinks with friends and enjoying life be wrong.'

She described Mr Dearlove as 'incredible' and the 'most gentle, kind and relaxed' person I have ever known.

'Losing Oli has left me with nothing. I have not only lost my boyfriend, the man I was meant to marry and start a family and future with, I have also lost my best friend.'

She added: 'We are all familiar with the phrase "a broken heart", but unless you have experienced some form of loss or sadness it is difficult to understand how this truly feels.

'On August 28 2016, I was unfortunate enough to learn its true meaning. The difference is my heart is not broken, it feels more like it has been obliterated.

'Flicking through old photographs of the two of us together, I joked about Oli always being on my right hand side and my sister made a comment that this is because Oli was my right-hand man - or literally, Mr Right. He was everything to me.'

Miss Wheatley said she had seen the effect of major accidents and gunshot wounds in her work so it was 'beyond any comprehension that a single punch to the head could be just as devastating'.

She went on: 'It is difficult to fathom how a human fist could have the same force and impact but I hope that more people will realise that a person’s hands are as much of a weapon as a knife or a gun.'

Mr Dearlove's mother Joy Wright told the court: 'No parent should have to make the decision to switch off their child’s life support.

'Timon may as well have used a gun or knife, the damage he did. He then just walked away casually without a thought or care for what he had done.