A man ‘glassed’ an innocent victim in a case of mistaken identity.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Kyle Anthony Bradley believed the man he attacked was responsible for the death of his uncle four years earlier.

But the man identified to him in a Darwen club was in fact the killer’s brother and had nothing to do with the single-punch death of self-employed kitchen fitter Kenneth Turnbull in August 2008.

Bradley, 24, of Green Row, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting Michael Gaskin causing him actual bodily harm on October 6. He was committed on bail to Preston Crown Court for sentence.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said that during the incident in the Marigold Club in Darwen, Bradley thrust a glass into the face of the other man causing ‘significant lacerations’.

“When he was interviewed by police he showed no remorse,” said Miss Allan. “He believed his victim had killed a relative of his but in fact it was the victim’s brother, Terence Gaskin, who was responsible.”

Rachael Griffiths, defending, said Terence Gaskin had been sentenced to four years in prison for the manslaughter of the defendant’s uncle.

“He was told by somebody in the club that Michael Gaskin was the person responsible for killing his uncle,” said Miss Griffiths.

Mr Turnbull, a father of four, was found collapsed outside the White Lion pub in Darwen in August 2008. Tests revealed he had died of a brain haemorrhage and there were no external signs of violence, but Terence Gaskin confessed to his mother that he had killed Mr Turnbull with a single punch.

She was so appalled by his confession that she ‘shopped’ him to the police who began a murder inquiry.