TWO men who killed Wiveliscombe man Jason Lock in a prolonged attack at his home earlier this year have each been jailed.

Daniel Bond, aged 34, and Lee Conlon, aged 37, were initially charged with Mr Lock’s murder, but the Crown Prosecution Service later accepted pleas of guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

They attacked Mr Lock, aged 56, of Stockers Close, on the evening of May 17 and he died two days later in Southmead Hospital, Bristol, without regaining consciousness.

On Friday, Bond and Conlon appeared for sentencing in Bristol Crown Court before Judge William Hart.

Judge Hart jailed Bond, of the Mandarin Hotel, Weston-super-Mare, for seven years and eight months.

Conlon, of Claremont Crescent, Weston-super-Mare, was jailed for six years and four months.

The court heard that although both men had punched Mr Lock, it was Bond who delivered a blow which knocked him unconscious to the ground.

Mr Lock’s cause of death was given as head injuries sustained during the attack.

Judge Hart said Mr Lock had been the victim of a ‘sustained attack’ by Bond and Conlon.

He said it was ‘a tragedy that should never have happened’.

Mr Lock had worked in Wiveliscombe for more than 25 years for EPS Services and Tooling.

His fiancée Mandy Lockyer in a tribute issued earlier described Mr Lock as her ‘best friend and lover’ who was ‘kind, hardworking, and would do anything for anybody’.

The couple had been together for 16 years and Ms Lockyer said she was heartbroken and lost without him.

In a personal statement read to Judge Hart, Ms Lockyer said: “Jason was not fighting back, Jason was a peacemaker not a fighter.

“I cannot explain how it feels to have the person you love ripped away in front of your eyes.

“Just trying to function every day feels completely unnatural.

“Every time I step outside of my house I am reminded of what happened as it happened right on my doorstep.

“It is just so painful.”

In a separate but related case, Laura Lockyer, aged 32, of Wiveliscombe, appeared in Taunton Deane Magistrate’s’ Court the day before Bond and Conlon were sentenced.

Laura Lockyer faced charges of assault and a public order offence relating to the incident in which Mr Lock died.

She denied all the allegations and was released on unconditional bail to appear in court again on January 27 next year.

A police spokesman said afterwards: “This remains an active criminal case and we ask people not to speculate on social media.”