REGIONAL: Club promoter spared jail for killing public schoolboy in Malia

Harrow pupil Archie Lloyd from Micheldever near Winchester was celebrating the end of his A-level exams with friends in Malia when he was knocked to the ground on August, 6 in 2015 by Sebastian Trabucatti.

Trabucatti, of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, punched 18-year-old Mr Lloyd and pushed over his best friend Andy Hutchinson in the drunken row at 5am in the middle of a street off the town’s main strip, the court heard.

The group had exchanged insults which culminated in Mr Lloyd saying to Trabucatti ‘one day you will work for me’, before walking off.

Three judges and four jurors took less than an hour to find Trabucatti, 25, guilty of first degree manslaughter after a trial at the Court of First Instance in Heraklion on Tuesday and he was handed a suspended four-year prison sentence.

The range for the offence is normally five to 10 years, according to lawyers in the Crete capital.

Mr Lloyd’s parents James and Claire sat hand-in-hand as they waited for the verdict, supported by a large crowd of relatives, many of whom burst into tears as it was announced.

They said later they were ‘relieved’ his killer had finally been brought to justice.

In a statement released through their lawyers, Mr Lloyd’s family said: ‘We have been waiting almost three years for the day when Archie’s attacker was brought to justice and we are relieved that this moment has finally come.

‘Sebastian Trabucatti took our wonderful son, brother and friend away from us when he attacked him, shattering many lives as a result.

‘While nothing will bring Archie back, we are pleased that he was found guilty of the first degree criminal offence of which he was accused.’

In court Trabucatti denied being responsible for the death, claiming it was a slap and not a punch, and said: ‘I never expected anything like this to ever happen.’

Archie died on the penultimate day of his Interrail holiday after the assault occurred near the Cloud Nine nightclub where Trabucatti had worked.

Friend Andy Hutchinson told how the group went to a club - where they briefly met Trabucatti in a toilet - and then to have a lap dance but he went outside to be sick and decided to leave.

He told how Archie caught up with him and they walked in the middle of the road to get a taxi when they clashed with Trabucatti, his girlfriend Faye Malcolm and another woman.

They were all on quad bikes and were hooting at them to move out of the way on the narrow street.

Trabucatti pushed Mr Hutchinson to the ground and then punched Mr Lloyd in the face after telling the pair to apologise for shouting at the women.

He also fell to the ground, hitting his head.

Paramedics checked Mr Lloyd at the scene and gave him the all-clear before the group went back to a villa they had rented in nearby Sissi.

Concerned he had not spoken since being hit and because he seemed drowsy, they got him into bed and tried to ring emergency services but could not get through.

They woke a few hours later to find he had died.

Pathologists determined he died after experiencing swelling on the brain and a haemorrhage.

The family’s lawyer, Kieran Mitchell of Slater and Gordon, said Mr Lloyd should have been on a ‘harmless’ night out when his life was cut short.

He said: ‘One moment of madness ended the life of a young man with so much potential and left his family distraught.

‘It has been a long battle to get justice, but I am relieved that this has finally been achieved.’