A year or so ago, petroleum trader Jeremy Aylmer punched IT executive Charles Cox outside London nightclub Floridita. Now he might go to jail because Cox was knocked unconscious, never came to, and died 20 months later. According to the Aylmer’s lawyer, he never meant to kill the guy! Or even hurt him too much! But, you know, shit happens. Also, naturally, this was over a woman.

“The defendant was drunk and he was pestering a young woman outside the nightclub and Mr Cox intervened and pushed him away from the woman, and the defendant punched him,” claimed the prosecutor. “The defendant claims he was acting in self-defence, protecting himself from Mr Cox. But you will hear from witnesses present at he scene and will see a CCTV recording of what happened, and we say, it was not self-defence. Mr Cox, who was carrying his briefcase and umbrella in one hand, was not offering violence to the defendant. He was telling him in robust language to go away. There was simply no need at all for the defendant to use any violence, but he chose to punch and punch hard.” The barrister said there was no suggestion Aylmer intended to kill Mr Cox or even cause him such severe injuries. But the punch was “deliberate, forceful, and aimed at Mr Cox’s face.” He added: “Not a single witness suggests that Mr Cox offered any violence at all, and it was this defendant who, without warning, suddenly and unnecessarily used force out of all proportion to the situation he was in. That, we say, makes his punch unlawful, and an unlawful assault that causes the death of another person, even many months later, is manslaughter.”

Jurors heard Mr Cox was married but separated from his wife, and was vice president of IT firm EDS, owned by Hewlett Packard. On November 22 he had been out drinking with colleagues, and they ended up in the Floridita. He and American accountant Jeffrey Starks chatted to two women, Angelica Martinez-Vargas and Jemina Luizaga, at a table near the bar. Aylmer, a keen surfer, arrived later in an overcoat and hat, and flirted with Ms Luizaga on the dancefloor, the court heard. But after he said something which offended her she rejoined the group at the table, telling them what happened. When Aylmer came over again Mr Cox told him to go away. Ms Martinez-Vargas described the IT executive as “very polite, talkative, happy, not drunk.”

Comments (50)

  1. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 6:20 PM

    “Petrolium”???

    Terrible story. Must have been one hell of a shot.

  2. Posted by Guy Ritchie | April 21, 2010 at 6:24 PM

    one-punch machine gun

  3. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 6:43 PM

    THAT Yale thing.

  4. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 6:48 PM

    fuckin IT guys

  5. Posted by merkin capital partners | April 21, 2010 at 6:49 PM

    Sorry for partying? Don’t be.

  6. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 6:56 PM

    Killing a guy is the new killing it

  7. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 7:00 PM

    from petroleum trader to prison ass pony in one punch.

    Poor guy, actually. I punched a few people (and got my ass kicked as well) back in the day. Thank god nothing like this happened.

  8. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 7:06 PM

    There going to love this guy in jail. He’s going to be a salad tossing machine.

  9. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 7:08 PM

    @8 I’m sure by “there” you mean “they’re”

    Are you writing from prison?

  10. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 7:26 PM

    @6 Nice. Beat me to it.

  11. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 7:27 PM

    @7 – Amen brother.

    ~RonRon

  12. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 9:07 PM

    sounds like he took the chump to fist city… get this guy a job at Gryphone Financial

  13. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 9:09 PM

    Eggshell egghead. Vosburg v Putzy.

  14. Posted by Skippy | April 21, 2010 at 9:32 PM

    Five Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique?

  15. Posted by Fixed Income | April 21, 2010 at 10:07 PM

    @6 – Very close. Killing an IT guy is the new killing it.

    – Fixed Income

  16. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 10:26 PM

    That’s one shot, that’s one shot

    - Ronnie (Chaz’s nephew who was on the Jersey Shore)

  17. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 10:59 PM

    That’s why Ping Jiang recommends female hormone treatment, to avoid losing your traders to such fits of roid-rage. What a tool.

  18. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 11:10 PM

    “I didn’t hit it that hard. It must’ve had a self-destruct.”

    Han Solo from ESB

  19. Posted by Sad Panda | April 21, 2010 at 11:20 PM

    Well done @15
    Perfect execution

  20. Posted by Anonymous | April 21, 2010 at 11:55 PM

    Who was the pugilist petroleum trader working for?

  21. Posted by WOw | April 22, 2010 at 2:15 AM

    Mike Tyson lol

  22. Posted by Father Time | April 22, 2010 at 4:27 AM

    how did this event occur “a year or so ago” and the guy died 20 months later?

    -guy whose calendar has 12 months

  23. Posted by guest | April 22, 2010 at 7:03 AM

    @22 This happened in SoHo. In London. London is in a different time zone.
    - another former Lehman quant

  24. Posted by Hplus | April 22, 2010 at 7:35 AM

    What a shameful set of comments.

    It must be devastating for the family of the deceased and the defendants world must be in pieces . Most men have had a drunken scuffle without a tragedy like this unfolding 20 months later. Have some empathy .

  25. Posted by james | April 22, 2010 at 7:38 AM

    The dumb ass trader should be executed Chinese style…period

  26. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 8:05 AM

    What do expect out of a keen surfer?

  27. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 8:08 AM

    is this junior high school? fighting over some chick they were competing for and looking to bang? stupidity rule the world

  28. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 8:29 AM

    @18
    Great shot, kid. That was one in a million.

    Wonder if the Spanish chick feels bad for being such a tease and starting this.

    - Misogynist guy who looks out for fellow oil traders

  29. Posted by Seaman Bodine | April 22, 2010 at 8:34 AM

    I hate fucking pikeys

  30. Posted by kungfugrip | April 22, 2010 at 8:37 AM

    Floridita sucks – what a dump

  31. Posted by watchmen | April 22, 2010 at 8:44 AM

    If the laws were fair in this current world, they would drop the case. Jeremy Aylmer, no doubt obnoxious, reacted and unless he was swinging a club, gun, tire iron, etc……HE DOESN’T DESERVE PRISON. If most of we, the animals (males) of this society would just keep their hands to themselves and shut the fuck up AND WALKaway……ta ta….you know. I have had a couple chances to do severe bodily harm to another man, while thinking of the consequences, and walked away shaking…..I am still on this side of the grass. Our Dads taught us to defend ourselves then you do not intentionallly kill soomeone and the law (who is never around when needed)shoves it up your ass. Make the law happy and just sit in your car or stand outside a club and let some drunk bastard walk up and kill you and don’t do nothing…..turn other cheek…..sssuuuuurrrreee @24 I wish the world were intelligent.

  32. Posted by Seaman Bodine | April 22, 2010 at 8:47 AM

    @31

    you almost would be worth the jail time

  33. Posted by american bandersnatch | April 22, 2010 at 9:11 AM

    @ Seaman Bodine – Concur

  34. Posted by Nuppals | April 22, 2010 at 9:14 AM

    @ 23

    A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

    Literally loled

  35. Posted by CoveredLong | April 22, 2010 at 9:28 AM

    How does the Starbucks waitress know there was no suggestion Aylmer intended to kill Mr. Cox…she doesn’t even know how to make an orange mocha frappacino.

    -Derek

  36. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 9:43 AM
  37. Posted by Frank | April 22, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    You kill a guy, you pay for it.

    25 years. Tough luck.

  38. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 10:04 AM

    Wow, a trader getting drunk and acting like a dick — go figure

  39. Posted by vinny pandito | April 22, 2010 at 10:07 AM

    my man should be getting an award

  40. Posted by american bandersnatch | April 22, 2010 at 10:14 AM

    @35 – Fighting is for Neanderthals. Real men do a walk-off.

  41. Posted by Seaman Bodine | April 22, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    I’d hardly call a candyass Euro-banker upset over poon-nanny hitting Samir Nayenenenajar “fighting”.

  42. Posted by TGFD | April 22, 2010 at 10:44 AM

    No empathy here for Jeremy or for his family. I guess he thought alcohol was his friend. Lengthy gaol (Chiefly British.Variant of jail) time for Jeremy and financial restitution to Mr. Cox’s family by Jeremy because of Cox’s “wrongful death” is surely appropriate for the arrogant bastard, Jeremy.

    Oh, and Jeremy’s family? Having them suffer is also appropriate, since they benefited handsomely from his earlier criminal trading activities. Cox’s family should sue the shit out of Jeremy.

    Living large in London, Jeremy? The only large you’ll be experiencing in the near future is the size of your anal opening. Youch!

    The Guy from Delaware

  43. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 12:03 PM

    Commie bastard

  44. Posted by FinkNottle | April 22, 2010 at 12:17 PM

    Can we ban TGFD already? Dude, you’re such a buzzkill.

  45. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 12:38 PM

    @42 Since when was selling something that you bought a crime? Go to North Korea. The guy was an asshole for throwing a punch instead of reasoning, it has nothing to do with his dayjob. In fact, seeing how emotional he was he probably was not a stellar trader.

  46. Posted by TGFD | April 22, 2010 at 2:16 PM

    Anonymous@#45…

    Everybody on Main Street knows that energy traders are criminals. It’s common knowledge there, but perhaps from where you sit, you haven’t noticed. BTW, throwing the punch may have had a lot to do with Jeremy’s dayjob. Alcohol, when combined with stress and arrogance can produce an unfortunate series of events.

    FinkNottle@#44…

    Sorry about the buzzkill; you’re right. I did try to liven it up a bit at the end, but I guess that fell short.

    Anonymous@#43…

    You can’t possibly be talking about me. TGFD? A Commie bastard? Never. I just don’t particularly care for John Paulson’s brand of Capitalism. You know, the kind that produces nothing and that exports nothing other than a lot of pain for Main Street and three booms and busts in nine short years.

    The Guy from Delaware

  47. Posted by Guest | April 22, 2010 at 3:17 PM

    What did the 5 fingers say to the face? Slap!

  48. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 3:45 PM

    Again with the ginger sucker punch!

  49. Posted by RickJames | April 22, 2010 at 3:46 PM

    UUUUUUUNIIITTTYYYY

  50. Posted by Anonymous | April 22, 2010 at 6:29 PM

    Financial transactions allow a lot more goods, services, and technologies to be produced than there otherwise would because of fragmented, illiquid resources – you should thank corporate financing and securitization for the home, health, and computer that you currently enjoy at such a small portion of your labor compared to peasants of old. Financial innovation is not an inherently bad thing, but just like any other tool it can potentially damage in addition to building.

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