MAN DIES AFTER A SINGLE PUNCH AT WORK CHRISTMAS PARTY

Christine Edwards, 57, watched in horror as managing director Vaughan, 52, was knocked to the floor by the one punch in the attack at their company festive bash.

It came just days before Christmas-loving Vaughan had planned a “perfect day” for his family for the festive season.

And now brave Christine is backing a police campaign urging people to “just walk away” from any trouble at festive parties.

The couple had been out for their work Christmas party when he was hit by factory worker David Jenkins, 38.

Devastated Christine has now told how the festive season was Vaughan’s favorite time of year.

The “gentle giant” loved to put a Christmas tree in every room of the home and to proudly display his Bing Crosby ornament.

Christine, of Llanelli, south Wales, said: “Every Christmas had a theme and he’d gone all out to make sure we had everything for a perfect day.

“He was going to cook a big meal on Christmas Eve, and had written the menu up on a board in the kitchen – we couldn’t bring ourselves to wipe it off for ages after.

“The cake he had made is still in the freezer. It doesn’t feel right to get rid of it.

“To anyone else, the house still looked as if we were celebrating Christmas as normal, but we were living a nightmare.”

Managing director Vaughan was attacked when he took employees from his soil testing company out for a meal.

Vaughan got into a row outside the Vista Lounge hotel and restaurant before being punched by Jenkins.

Mother-of-two Christine said: “It was horrendous. He went down and he wasn’t getting up. I told my daughter Emma ‘he’s gone’ I just knew it.

“He was a 6ft tall, strong man, and he was just lying there. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

“Christmas will never be the same nothing ever will.”

Christine said the couple watched Vaughan’s favorite film it’s a Wonderful Life together just weeks before he died.

She said: “His favorite film was ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, which we watched together a few weeks before it happened.

“On the back of his gravestone I had engraved ‘It was a wonderful life’, because life really was wonderful with him in it.”

Christine is now backing the Just Walk Away campaign by Dyfed-Powys Police – aiming to tackle alcohol-related attacks.

She added: “I want people to know what a good person he was. Our world has been turned upside down.”

Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Phil Rowe, of the force, said: “If you get into a confrontational situation on a night out, please be the bigger person and just walk away.”

Jenkins of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was jailed for five years and three months by Judge Keith Thomas at Swansea Crown Court.