Thug who punched banking boss to death in unprovoked attack due to be released from prison after just eight months
A THUG who punched a millionaire banking boss to death in an unprovoked attack is due for release from jail after just eight months.
Steven Allan targeted Paul Mason, 52, outside the posh Ivy nightclub after wrongly believing he had stolen a pal’s phone.
The 34-year-old was jailed for three years and nine months in April after he was cleared of murder but admitted manslaughter.
But Allan is now up for early release on licence next month, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
A Prison Service spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Paul Mason.
“Offenders released on licence must abide by strict rules which if broken will see them returned back behind bars.”
The move has come as a blow to Paul’s family, who have been left furious Allan could be home in time for Christmas.
His sister Rachel told the Mail Online: “What fills us with disbelief and frustration is the fact that Paul’s killer could be released in December, meaning that he will serve just eight months in prison for violently attacking and killing a wholly innocent man.
“How is this justice? It’s just not. The sentencing guidelines for those that kill must be reviewed, they are simply failing our society and allowing dangerous individuals to serve so little jail time and be back in the community so quickly.”
Rachel previously told how her brother Simon tragically relapsed into alcoholism and took his own life three months after Paul’s death.
She told Allan’s sentencing hearing he was “consumed with trauma and grief” and that she has been left with no siblings at all now.
Allan had been drinking in various bars before he confronted Paul, who was leaving the Ivy in Soho with a friend.
He then landed an uppercut on Paul – a CEO for Qatar National Bank – when he tried to get up.
Horrified witnesses told how they heard a sickening crunch as his skull made contact with the pavement.
Before fleeing the scene, Allan took Paul’s phone, telling onlookers: “That’s my friend’s phone. He stole my friend’s phone.”
Allan then shouted “where’s your fight now?” as Paul lay stricken on the ground before he fled in a rikshaw.
Paul died in hospital six months after the horror attack in December 2020.
Rachel said in a victim impact statement she will be “haunted forever”.
The NHS worker added: “A feeling of melancholy will consume me for the rest of my life as I have to live without Paul.
“You’ve broken my family for evermore. I’m overwhelmed with feelings of shock, disbelief and hatred towards you. How dare you take Paul’s life?
“We ultimately watched Paul die as the brain damage you caused took his life and the life support was withdrawn.
“His previously fit and healthy body wasted away in front of us over three days. All we could do was watch him die.”