Money raised in memory of man killed in pub attack

A family from Warwickshire have raised close to £10,000 in memory of a loved one who died 10 years ago after being punched in an unprovoked attack outside a bar.

Robert Bavington was 28 when he died in April 2016 following the attack in Leamington Spa.

A decade on, his family said they wanted to do something special to remember him, and chose to hike up Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) for charity - a challenge since completed.

His brother James Bavington said: "I love hiking, my late brother Robert loved hiking, and I just thought: 'Wouldn't it be incredible if on the 10-year anniversary we put together a route over Snowdon that I actually once did with my brother Robert?'"

The family set up a crowdfunding page to raise money for Breast Cancer Now and quickly reached their initial target of £1,000.

Eight-year-old nephew Harry, whose first name was his uncle's middle name, was part of the fundraising efforts and said: "When I keep seeing more and more [money] coming in I'm just like 'wow, why do people want to give so much money with us?'

"It's just been really nice to have all the money coming and everyone's just been really kind."

Robert Bavington, from Rugby, was on a night out when he was punched.

He was hit by Vijay Masih, 31 at the time, outside Moo Bar on Russell Street.

A court heard the victim fell to the ground in the attack and hit his head. He died in hospital.

In June 2017, Masih was jailed for six years for manslaughter.

James Bavington said that time was incredibly hard for their close-knit family.

"Robert was an incredible guy. He was almost like my best friend," he said.

"It's been something that I found very difficult to come to terms with. Even still, 10 years later, I don't really ever talk about it. So when the anniversary was approaching I thought to myself 'let's do something positive' - think about how we can remember Rob, and bring him back into focus but in a really positive way."

The 41-year-old said the weekend away with his family, with the hiking challenge at its focus, allowed them to talk about their relative without the sadness.

"It also allowed my children, Harry and Evelyn, to really understand who their uncle was and the impact that he did have," he said.

"I find it a little bit easier as each year goes on to, you know, share stories, to share anecdotes, to keep Robert alive in their world, even though both my children, sadly, were born after he died."

The charity Breast Cancer Now was chosen because the family had experience of the disease.

James Bavington said: "There's been quite a bit of breast cancer in our family and also we have a friend, who unfortunately is terminally ill with breast cancer and we just thought that would be a cause that means a lot to us as a family and that Rob would have supported as well."

Son Harry said getting to the top of Snowdon was a relief.

"When I got to the top I was just like 'finally, we're there' and I just wanted to touch that top golden plate and have a moment to just think about what's happened and reflect," he said.

In the coming months, the family are going to be invited to London to hand over a "big cheque" to Breast Cancer Now at the charity's headquarters.

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