Manslaughter charge recommended in 60-year-old’s death after sucker-punch attack

VANCOUVER – A manslaughter charge has been recommended for a 26-year-old man in the death of a Vancouver resident who was punched in the head.

Vancouver police say the 60-year-old man died in hospital after being injured in an argument outside of a downtown nightclub.

The announcement of a possible charge comes one day after the city’s police force reported that one-punch attacks have killed three people and seriously injured several others over the past year.

On Friday, police said the victim initially thought he had suffered only a minor head injury when a punch knocked him to the ground.

They say he went to hospital, but refused treatment and left, and paramedics later found him unresponsive in his apartment building with a serious brain bleed.

Police said alcohol and bravado appear to be fuelling the spate of unrelated attacks that have caused serious injuries in minor disputes.