THE children of a man killed in a Banbury pub have won an appeal over a compensation claim.

James and Megan Lavelle took their claim to the Appeal Court in London after Oxford County Court turned down their case in January this year.

Mr and Miss Lavelle from Liverpool, named five people in their claim after their father Kevin died when he was struck with a dumb-bell in a fight at the Cricketer’s Arms, in Middleton Road, in 2004.

Those named were Ceri Noble, Phillip Lawless and Leslie Gibbs, all from Pontypridd, in South Wales, who Mr Lavelle’s children claim inflicted injuries on him which resulted in his death.

They are also claiming that Dennis and Jean McCarthy, of Park Close, Banbury, the former licensees of the pub, were negligent or were in breach of their statutory duty as occupiers of the premises.

The children, through their mother Michelle Lavelle, of Bootle, Liverpool, are claiming damages of up to £250,000 for loss of dependency arising from their father’s death.

A criminal prosecution against Ceri Noble collapsed in 2006, and no-one has ever been brought to justice over Mr Lavelle’s death.

The compensation claim will now be referred back to Oxford County Court.

Last week, Detective Inspector Steve Duffy, of Thames Valley Police, urged anyone with information to come forward and said that the net was closing in on the killer after new information from South Wales.

He believes someone in Banbury knows what happened on the night Mr Lavelle died.

He added: “The biggest issue for me now is making everybody involved understand that time does not heal, time is not going to make it less serious and time is not going to make it go away.”

There is a £30,000 reward available for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for killing Mr Lavelle.

Anyone with information should call Mr Duffy on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.