A FACTORY worker is facing a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of killing a grandfather in what prosecutors last night described as a motiveless and unprovoked attack.

Cliff Palmer, 73, was punched in the side of the head by Michael Kelly as he looked for a taxi after leaving a pub in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, last September.

The popular great-grandfather and father-of-two never regained consciousness, and died the following day in hospital from bleeding in the brain caused by a tear in a vessel in the side of his neck.

Last night, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Palmer’s family will never come to terms with the “incomprehensible nature” of his death.

Mr Palmer’s son-in-law, Graham Phillippo, said: “Our family is happy that justice has been done for Cliffy, and we all wish to thank the prosecution witnesses for attending court and giving evidence in such trying circumstances.”

A Teesside Crown Court jury of six women and four men returned its guilty verdict yesterday afternoon after deliberating for nearly eight hours over two days.

Members of Mr Palmer’s family shouted “yes” and then cried after the verdict, while Kelly struggled to hold back tears and his relatives protested his innocence.

Mutterings could be heard coming from the public gallery as the judge considered granting bail, including: “He never did it, he’s not an animal”, and “It stinks”.

Kelly, 21, of Mackenzie Place, Newton Aycliffe, who had denied manslaughter, was remanded in custody by Mr Justice Walker until he is sentenced on May 8 once background reports have been prepared.

Xanthe Tait, head of CPS South Durham, said last night: “Notwithstanding the outcome today, our sympathies are with Mr Palmer’s family.

“Mr Kelly has been convicted of killing Mr Palmer in an unprovoked and motiveless assault and the incomprehensible nature of his death is not eradicated by the guilty verdict, though it may bring some comfort to Mr Palmer’s family.

“Mr Palmer was an active, 73-year-old gentleman, a sociable man, still working as a roofer, and this was cruelly brought to an end in the early hours of September 6.

“Mr Palmer hadn’t been drunk. Kelly had been drinking heavily, so much so he couldn’t remember the incident.

“Mr Kelly was seen by eyewitnesses to walk towards Mr Palmer and, in a motiveless attack, strike him on the head. “This case brings a substantial investigation to its conclusion and I would like to pay tribute to all members of the prosecution team who helped bring Michael Kelly to justice.”

Kelly maintained throughout his ten-day trial that he never punched Mr Palmer, but accepted he may have caused him to fall by brushing past him in the street.

He told the jury he had gaps in his memory from the crucial time, but added: “I don’t know what I did that night, but I know in my heart I did not do such a thing.”

Kelly, who had consumed five pints of lager and three or four vodka and energy drink mixers, told the court that he was “110 per cent certain” he was not responsible for Mr Palmer’s death.

He disputed the accounts of witnesses who said he punched Mr Palmer as they both walked towards a town centre taxi rank, saying they were mistaken about what they had seen.

When he gave evidence, Kelly said: “Can I just point out that I am from a good family. I have been brought up right and I know right from wrong, and nothing would ever make me do something like that.”

He denied claims that earlier in the evening he was “hyper and exaggerated” and that he was shadow boxing inside the pub, or was angry about an argument he had with his girlfriend.

He said he had been out to celebrate a promotion at work – a job he was due to start three days later – and was devastated when told he was being arrested.

“Everything was going well in my life, and for everything just to turn upside down is just unreal,” Kelly told the jury.

“Words cannot express how I was feeling at that moment. For something you have not done, it is a big blow to the system and you just don’t know how to take it.”