THE mum of a 39-year-old Barrow dad who died in a shocking street attack has spoken of her seven-year fight for answers following his brutal killing.


“Vicious brute” Lee Cooksey killed David Crossman with a single punch that severed one of his main arteries in a Barrow Island street attack back in 2010.

While the dad-of-three lay dying on the ground, Cooksey dragged him across the road and punched him a further five or six times before walking away after the attack.

Speaking on the seventh anniversary of his death, Mr Crossman's mother Carol said her family's seven-year fight for answers was finally over after she was given access to court and police documents which detailed her son's final moments and the ensuing court case.

"We finally got hold of the judge's report, in which he explains that he gave him credit for putting him in the recovery position but letters the police have since sent us say it wasn't Cooksey who did that," Mrs Crossman said.

"I am glad we know the truth but it is a bit unsettling."

In November 2010, dad-of-five Cooksey was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to manslaughter. But within less than 12 months he was moved to an open prison and later released on licence.

"When the judge said five years I hadn't been expecting anymore really but I didn't expect him to serve less than a year before going to an open prison," Mrs Crossman, 75, said.

"I think that is what takes longer to come to terms with, the injustice of that."


Although she could not bring herself to watch it, Mrs Crossman's other son did opt to view CCTV footage taken from a shop near where the attack took place.

And through the official reports and correspondence from the police which she has obtained since her son's brutal killing, Mrs Crossman feels she has a much fuller picture of the investigation and subsequent prosecution.

"It doesn't answer all of our questions but it gives us much more of an idea of the judicial process," she said.

"It is as much as we are going to get."