A MAN has been jailed for three years after an innocent bystander was killed during a karaoke bar brawl between two warring families.

Father-of-three Terry Raisbeck, 53, from Brandon, Durham City, was killed when Russell Frederick Snowdon, 26, mistook him for a member of the rival clan.

He denied killing Mr Raisbeck, who was awaiting a heart bypass operation, but was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how on April 16 this year Mr Raisbeck was out with his wife Sheila on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, at Ushaw Moor Working Men's Club, near Durham.

Paul Sloan, prosecuting, said Mr Raisbeck was a quiet, easy-going man.

He said: "On the night of the attack, Mr Raisbeck and his wife met friends at about 12.15pm and spent the next four hours in Ushaw Moor's WMC.

"There was a really good party atmosphere among the customers in the club's karaoke bar until a violent confrontation broke out in the toilets."

Mr Sloan said the dispute was between the Minnis and Crookes families, who he said were long-standing rivals in the Ushaw Moor area.

The court heard how Snowdon received a telephone call from Beverly Crookes, who asked for her brother, Gary, to come to the club because there was "hell on".

Mr Sloan told the court how Snowdon drove to the club with Mr Crookes in his car.

He said: "At this point, Mr Raisbeck and his wife left the club, at about 7.45pm, and headed for the bus stop."

When Snowdon arrived, he was confronted with a "commotion" upstairs and came straight back outside to find Mr Crookes in a "heated altercation" with Mr Raisbeck, said Mr Sloan.

Snowdon struck out with the palm of his hand, said Mr Sloan.

"This blow was struck with enough force to fracture Mr Raibeck's skull, and he died in the early hours of the following morning," he added.

Toby Hedworth, defending, said: "During the fighting upstairs, the defendant tragically mistook the altercation between Crookes and Mr Raisbeck.

"He simply thought his friend was in trouble."

Snowdon, who had two previous convictions for violence, was sentenced to two years for the manslaughter of Mr Raisbeck. Judge Esmond Faulkes invoked a previously suspended sentence for a further 12 months, which Snowdon will serve consecutively.