A NIGHTCLUB bouncer was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for killing a Southampton man with a single punch to the head following a row in the street.

Budding lawyer Mohammed Waqar, 22, pleaded guilty last month to the manslaughter of Simon Bampton, who was assaulted in Bristol on August 19 last year.

Outside Bristol Crown Court today, Mr Bampton's partner, Natasha Matthews, tearfully branded Mr Justice Jack's sentence ''a joke''.

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Mr Bampton, 21, a construction worker from Thornhill, suffered a brain haemorrhage after his head snapped back from a single punch, the court heard.

He was walking through the city centre with his friend Kevin Prescott after a night drinking, trying to find the Premier Inn hotel where they were staying, at about 2.30am.

Waqar, from Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, had finished his doorman's shift at Lloyds Bar and was driving along Marsh Street with his colleague Perry Cook when he saw the men in the road.

When sentencing Waqar, Justice Jack accepted evidence that Mr Bampton and his friend had been abusive and one of them had used racist language before an altercation ensued.

Miss Matthews said: ''It's a joke. He's got his life and he's taken Simon's and ruined our future and he's got the rest of his life ahead of him. It's a pathetic sentence.

''Simon never caused an argument, he was a lovely person and would do anything for anyone.''