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A teenage killer who punched a heroic corporal to death ‘celebrated’ knocking him out and boasted to bystanders that he had killed him.
Father-of-four, Corporal Shaun Roberts was training in the North East and had travelled to Blyth in Northumberland to enjoy a night out with army colleagues
His group was seemingly singled out for not being local by 18-year-old Mason Ibbotson and his friends when they were spotted outside a nightclub on October 6.
Ibbotson, who trained as a boxer, knocked Corporal Roberts out with a single blow to the face then celebrated with his arms in the air as his target fell to the ground, hugging those around him.
‘Superb soldier’ Corporal Roberts, known to friends as ‘Robbo’, served in the Royal Anglian Regiment as a sniper and had been mentioned in dispatches for running into the line of fire to save a fellow soldier.
CCTV showed the groups gesticulating towards each other around 3.14am after leaving the Deja Vu nightclub.
Jessica Slaughter, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant was bouncing up and down in a boxer’s stance.
‘He punched him to the face, resulting in him falling to the floor in an unresponsive state.’
The 18-year-old killer, Mason Ibbotson, who trained as a boxer, knocked Corporal Roberts out with a single blow then celebrated with his arms in the air and embraced someone he was with
Father-of-four, Corporal Shaun Roberts, known as Robbo, was enjoying a night out with army colleagues while training in the North East when they appear to have been singled out for not being local
As Corporal Roberts, 35, lay unconscious on the ground, Ibbotson threw more punched at a friend of the dying soldier.
As Ibbotson left the scene one member of the public heard him saying: ‘I’ve got blood on my hands, I think I’ve just killed someone’.
Another woman heard him say: ‘Here, I’m going to get locked up.’
A member of Corporal Roberts’ group, who said they had intended to return to Otterburn after their night out, said he heard a female comment that ‘they were not from around here’.
He then saw Ibbotson ‘jumping around and shouting ‘come on then’ and after he had struck the fatal blow he continued acting in the same manner.
The soldier said he and his colleagues were not overly drunk and he did not understand why the attack had taken place.
‘It appears Corporal Roberts and his group were targeted simply because they were not from the area,’ Miss Slaughter told the court.
‘He celebrated, as seen on the CCTV then engaged in further violence.’
Corporal Roberts never regained consciousness and he died from blunt force head injuries on November 1 after his family took the heartbreaking decision to withdraw his life support.
In an emotional statement his wife Ellys Roberts said: ‘Our three-year-old asked me the other day when is daddy getting better and coming home.
‘Robbo will never see any of our children get married, have grandkids or see his children pass their driving test.
‘Our youngest will start school in September, and he won’t be there. Despite his job he was such a devoted and present dad, husband and friend the loss of him is noticed daily.’
CCTV showed the groups gesticulating towards each other around 3.14am after leaving the Deja Vu nightclub in Blyth. The nightclub is pictured
A victim impact statement was also read from Corporal Roberts’ oldest son, Leo, 15, who spoke of happy memories of things he did with his dad, including wild camping, bike rides and walks.
He said: ‘I was so proud of him. I would tell my friends “my dad is a soldier”.
‘When I see all my dad’s medals and awards it make me so sad but also so, so proud Robbo was my dad and I know he will be remembered for a long time.’
A statement was also read out from an army brigadier, who said he was a ‘superb soldier’ who had served in Afghanistan.
The brigadier said Corporal Roberts ‘stood out’ and was someone ‘we all looked up to’ and was ‘truly exceptional under the most challenging circumstances’.
He added that his ‘cheeky smile would light up any room or dusty compound’ and said he was a ‘shining example to other young soldiers’ who will be truly missed and remembered.
The court heard Ibbotson has previous convictions including for criminal damage, possessing a meat cleaver, assaulting emergency workers and drink-driving.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sent to a young offenders institution for six years by Judge Robert Adams.
Susannah Proctor, defending, said: ‘He said he intended to hit the victim to get him to back off but that he hit him in the wrong place and accepts the consequences of that.’
Miss Proctor added that the celebration afterwards was not a celebration of having killed him.
She said Ibbotson has mental health difficulties and added: ‘Knowing he is responsible for the death of another person has been almost impossible for him to appreciate.
‘Through me he truly expresses remorse for his actions. He will have to live with what he did for the rest of his life.’
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