Father and daughter jailed after manslaughter of neighbour over popped football

Father and daughter jailed after manslaughter of neighbour over popped football

A DAD and daughter have been jailed for a total of 14 years for killing their neighbour because she popped a child’s football.

The Sun reports that Natalie Bollen, 28, and her dad William Jelly, 48, punched Kelly Machin following a blazing neighbourly row.

Machin, 34, was pushed on to a coffee table causing internal bleeding after she used a knife to burst a ball.

The ball belonged to one of Bollen’s four children, and she had become fed-up with it being kicked over her fence regularly.

Bollen ran down to Machin’s house in Leicester Forest East and banged on her door shouting: “I’m going to kill ya” after the ball was popped.

She later barged into Machin’s home with her father Jelly in a bid to “bang her out” on August 23 last year.

The victim was left with five broken ribs after the assault.

Ten days later she died from internal bleeding.

Single mum-of-four Bollen, and Jelly, were both jailed for seven years each.

The pair were both convicted of manslaughter unanimously by a jury of six men and six women following a ten day trial at Leicester Crown Court last month.

Jailing them, Judge Nicholas QC said: “You went to Kelly Machin’s home when both were in an irate and volatile state of mind.

“You both showed little remorse.

“Whether her death was painful we cannot know, but it was certainly lonely.”

Machin had been having problems with Bollen, who lived two doors away, for several months before the fatal attack, the court was told.

The neighbour had become increasingly annoyed by the constant noise made by her children and the number of times they kicked footballs into her garden.

The court heard Machin eventually punctured one of the balls with a knife before throwing it back over the fence on August 23.

Bollen and a group of women charged round to the house and banged on the door shouting: “You might not come out now Kelly, but I’m going to kill ya.”

The court heard they eventually left but Bollen then returned 20 minutes later with her dad Jelly, who ran a satellite equipment business.

The pair burst into the house when the door was opened by Machin’s friend and launched the attack.

Bollen punched her in the face several times before Jelly pushed her causing her to fall backwards, fracturing five ribs, which ruptured her chest cavity.

Machin received hospital treatment but the injuries led to her bleeding to death shortly before she was due to have an operation.

The court heard she was found dead on her sofa less than two weeks after the assault on September 5.

John Cammegh, defending Bollen, said: “It was an impetuous moment of madness on the part of Miss Bollen.

“She lost her temper.

“Things had been boiling for a long time — she simply snapped.

“Sadly the consequences were far beyond anything she could have imagined and is something she will be eternally ashamed of and will regret forever.

“She’s terribly, terribly sorry to the family of the deceased for what happened.”

William Mousley QC, defending Jelly, said: “It’s a very unusual case — as a result of a single angry push — and he’s responsible for the wholly unforeseen death of Kelly Machin.

“He initially went there to do the right thing by his vulnerable daughter and then did the wrong thing and lost control in the way he did.”

Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Smalley, of Leicestershire Police, said: “A seemingly minor incident resulted in a person losing their life.

“The defendants’ actions on that day were excessive and they attacked Kelly without regard for the consequences.

“They now face a lengthy prison sentence and two families have been left devastated.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun