Jake Wells received a four years and nine months jail term in the Doncaster badger hunting jail sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter over Jason Gaskin’s death in Doncaster. Sheffield Crown Court imposed the sentence yesterday, alongside the earlier case against James Neeson.
Gaskin, 53, died after he was attacked by Wells, 28, and Neeson, 50, after a Halloween party at Park Social Working Men’s Club in Balby, in Doncaster. The court heard the incident happened on October 29, 2023, and that he was found unconscious in the early hours of the morning and died at the scene despite emergency services’ efforts.
Sheffield Crown Court sentencing
CCTV shown to the court showed Gaskin talking to a woman as she danced around the table he was sitting at. Neeson walked around behind him and landed two quick punches to the side of his head. The row moved outside and onto the neighbour’s street, where Wells was seen landing a single punch to the side of Gaskin’s head.
Gaskin fell to the floor and banged his head on the surface. Wells pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed for four years and nine months. Neeson was originally sentenced to 12 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.
Maria’s criticism
Maria was 15 years old when her dad was killed, and she was 18 when she criticised the sentencing. She said: “A person who was involved in someone losing their life only gets nine months’ imprisonment – that is ridiculous.” She also said: “Even four years for causing my dad’s death is not acceptable. I have read shoplifters and drug runners get more time. I have no words.”
She added: “They were also on bail for the whole investigation and court process. Out free to live as if nothing happened, yet I had to live with the fact I had lost my dad.” She described the last time they spoke by video call, saying: “I was on Facetime and he told me he was going with friends to a Halloween party. He said to me ‘you scrub up well our lass’ and that he loved me very much and to have a nice night.”
James Neeson sentence
Neeson’s sentence was reduced to nine months after he was assaulted outside court. Maria also said: “My older sister had come around to pick me up and when she walked in she told me dad had died. At first I thought it was a lie, as I was only on the phone to him the day before.”
She said of her father: “People loved Dad. He lit up every room he was in. He was not troublesome. In fact, he hated altercations or arguments. The CCTV showed him walking away and that he never laid a finger on anyone.”
The sentencing leaves Wells with a fixed prison term and Neeson with a reduced one, but the court’s treatment of the pair has already drawn a public response from Gaskin’s daughter. Her criticism now sits alongside the facts the court set out: a death after a Halloween party, one manslaughter plea, and one sentence cut after an attack outside court.
