'I was screaming down the phone, then it went dead’: Wife tells of last conversation with husband before he was caught up in fatal street row 

By Amy Oliver for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 11:15 EST, 27 March 2012 | Updated: 12:49 EST, 27 March 2012

A grieving widow has told of the last conversation she had with her husband before he was fatally injured during a street row.

Patricia Harrison, 45, had been speaking to husband Kevin on his mobile phone when she heard shouting and his phone went dead, Luton Crown Court heard today.

Ravi Sandhu, 24, of Bedford, is alleged to have punched Mr Harrison to the ground during the argument in the town's centre during the early hours of September 11 last year.

Tragic loss: Mrs Harrison told the court she had kept calling her husband after his phone went dead but it just went to voicemail

Mr Harrison, 48, who hit his head on the pavement after the punch, died in hospital a week later as a result of a severe brain injury.

Giving evidence on the first day of Sandhu's trial, Mrs Harrison said her husband had just reassured her that he was OK.

'He said, "Don’t worry I am really fine, I have not been arrested or stabbed. I have been a good boy." It did make me laugh a little bit,' she said.

She went on: 'I heard another voice say, "What the f*** are you looking at?" and I heard Kev say "What do you mean, what am I looking at?"

'He didn’t understand what was happening. I think his phone must have come away from his mouth because the voices seemed to get further away.

Grief: Patricia Harrison, 45, told Luton Crown Court how her husband had reassured her he was OK during a phone call before she heard shouting and his phone went dead

'By that time I was screaming down the phone saying, "Kevin what’s going on, what’s happening!" Then it went dead. I kept calling him. I didn’t know what to do. I called him back but it went through to his voice mail,' Mrs Harrison said.

Ann Evans prosecuting told the jury how Mr Harrison and his teenage son Jack had left the family home in Raunds, Northants and gone into Bedford to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Accused: Ravi Sandhu, 24, of Bedford, is alleged to have punched Mr Harrison during the argument in the early hours of September 11 last year

They had been part of a group and had gone to various pubs before ending up in Elements nightclub.

The court heard how Mr Harrison became separated from his friends after they left the club at around 3.30am and Mr Harrison went to find his son.

'The party left him on his own in the High Street and sadly that is where the tragedy happened,' Mrs Evans said.

She added that Mrs Harrison had woken up around 3.45am and worried that her husband was still not home, called his mobile.

'She phoned his mobile and eventually he answered,' Mrs Evans told the court. 'She could tell he had had a few drinks. He was laughing and joking and told her he was trying to find Jack as they had become separated.

'Quite frankly she was rather annoyed with him and so she hung up,' Mrs Evans added.

'About a half an hour later she called him again. He was still larking around and told her jokingly that he hadn’t been arrested. But the next thing she recalls was male voices in the background.'

The court heard how a police officer had witnessed Mr Harrison in an altercation with a group of about seven Asian males outside the Hi-Fi nightclub.

Mr Harrison was also caught on CCTV apparently bumping into one of the group, walking on and then turning back.

Mrs Evans said he was then surrounded by the men before a police officer intervened and separated them.

The group were ushered away from the scene but an officer heard them saying to Mr Harrison 'You think you’re a big man, come around the corner and let’s see,' the court heard.

In happier times: Mr Harrison had left his group of friends to look for his son Jack when he became embroiled in the argument

Sandhu and the six others then left the scene. CCTV footage shows Mr Harrison on his phone trying to locate his son.

But later on he encountered the same group again, the jury heard.

'What happens next you will see captured on CCTV although it’s not a crystal clear image,' Mrs Evans told the court. 'The defendant punches Mr Harrison - just once but you may think the punch is coupled with a guilty conscience, as you can see the whole group - led by this defendant jogging away from Mr Harrison who is now flat on the ground,'

The prosecutor said a club DJ who was outside in the street had looked up after hearing a slapping noise.

'He saw a man, clearly Kevin Harrison, falling backwards into the road and hitting his head as well. He noticed the man had not attempted to break his fall and saw him as he lay motionless in the road. He also saw the men who had been around the bus shelter start laughing and jog away,' she said.

Mr Harrison was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge suffering from a severe brain injury. He died a week later on September 18 from complications as a result of the head injury.

Sandhu was arrested shortly after the attack. He told police he had initially pushed Mr Harrison away from his cousin who he had become embroiled in an argument with.

However in an interview on September 27 last year, Sandhu said he had punched Mr Harrison because he feared he was about to be attacked.

Sandhu has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. The case continues.

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