Martial arts expert Colin Payne has been jailed for life following a pub row that ended in the murder of Mark Bloomfield.

Mark Bloomfield, 54, a charity worker who had previously worked alongside Mother Teresa, was assaulted at the Full Moon pub in Swansea in July this year.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Darren George, Major Crime Team, South Wales Police said:

“The court has sentenced the defendant Colin Payne, aged 61, to life imprisonment where he will serve a minimum term of 15 years, for the murder of Mark Bloomfield and for attempting to pervert the course of justice after disposing of the CCTV system which recorded the tragic events of Thursday July 18th 2019.

“On the day of the assault Mark Bloomfield was going about his everyday business, when his life was tragically taken away following a violent – unprovoked attack at the hands of a person he had never met before.

“The jury has found that Payne showed a complete disregard for Mark’s life, subjecting him to two separate assaults, firstly inside The Full Moon Public House and later outside, where he followed Mark and continued the brutal attack.

“Payne showed little remorse throughout the investigation. His first actions immediately after the assault on Mark, was not to offer help, but was to go back into the pub, remove the CCTV system and then dispose of it in an attempt to cover up what he had done.

“I am pleased with the verdict, and would like to thank the jury for their service.

“I hope the conviction and sentence today can in some way bring closure to Mark’s family and friends, my thoughts remain with them and of course Mark.”

Mark’s family have issued the following further tribute to him:

“Mark described his life’s work as an “attempt to serve humanity as unselfishly as possible.”

“When he established his first schools for girls in Bihar, India, and we were working together to get the wheels turning for them financially, he used to say to me “burn bright.

“Those words continue to resonate for me in my own work with children and education many years later.

“The loss of Mark is devastating to us and his manner of death, unimaginably tragic.
“We hope that Mark’s legacy will continue to thrive in the work that he has done for children around the world in his Free Schools World Literacy program.”