“He’s a danger to the public, he killed my son for no reason. He’s more dangerous than anybody else.” These are the words of a grieving dad from Exmouth denied the chance to lock away for longer the man who ‘calmly’ punched and killed his son on a night out.
The family of gentle giant Cemal John Yilmaz, from Exmouth, who loved life and to hug, have been blocked from appealing against his one-punch killer’s lenient ‘slap-on-the-wrist’ sentence.
Fun-loving Cemal, aged 29, died six months ago, ‘punched out of the blue’ on a night out in Exmouth by 22-year-old Royal Marine Joseph Jones, from Wolvergampton, who was ‘disrepected’ by banter at being told he sounded Brummie.
Cemal John Yilmaz, from Exmouth, described as a ‘gentle giant’ by those who knew him, was killed on a night out in December 2025, fatally punched by Royal Marine Joseph Jones, from Wolverhampton.
Image: BBC News Hub
Jones, who admitted manslaughter, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in March and was expected to serve two years and four months behind bars before his release on licence. But now the Probation Service has told Cemal’s family his killer will walk free from his open jail after just 17 months.
When Cemal’s family lobbied the Attorney General’s office for the killer’s sentence to be reviewed, the appeal was turned down.
The Prison Service says it was reviewing how to make it easier for victims to raise concerns about offender’s licence conditions. It said prisoners could only moved to open jails after a careful risk assessment. They must obey strict rules to stay there.
The family in happier times, pictured here, R to L, are Cemal John Yilmaz, with his dad Ozkan Yilmaz, and brother, Merik Leonard Yilmaz. Image: BBC News Hub
Cemal’s mum Ann-Marie Yilmaz, who slept in her son’s bed after he died to feel close to him, called for harsher punishments. She said: “They need to look at these lenient sentences for people and address them and get more years put on the sentences because they are getting away with it, and it’s not right, it’s not fair.”
She added: “He was just lovely, he was gorgeous. He was larger than life. If you had a crappy day, he’d brighten your day up. That’s what he was like, and funny. Just so funny, and I miss that.”
Cemal’s mum Ann-Marie Yilmaz wants a review of ‘unfair’ lenient sentences. Image: BBC News Hub
Merik Leonard Yilmaz, Cemal’s brother who saw him knocked out cold on the ground, after Jones walked away without stopping to help, said: “All the badness that’s happened to us, and he’s just had a slap on the wrist. It’s completely unfair. My brother was a good man.”
He added: “Every day he’d come into my room and wake me up, either hug or whatever. Now it’s just, everything just feels quiet. You wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Cemal’s dad, Ozkan Yilmaz, described Jones’s punishment as a ‘joke from day one’, warning his son’s killer was ‘a danger to the public’.
Cemal’s dad, Ozkan Yilmaz, said his son’s killer’s sentence was a’joke’ from day one. Image: BBC News Hub
The Solicitor General for England and Wales said she was sorry to hear of the devasting impact to Cemal’s family, but after careful consideration concluded the case could not be referred to the Court of Appeal, because the sentence was unlikely to be increased, recognising it was not the outcome they had hoped for.
Writing to the family she said: “The offender’s actions were appalling, and no sentence can undo their criminal acts.
“The question I have to ask is whether there are sufficient legal grounds to conclude that the sentence would likely be increased by the Court of Appeal.
“A reference under the scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so.
“After detailed examination of the case, I am afraid it is not possible to meet this threshold and accordingly I cannot properly make such a reference. I know this news will be disappointing to you, and I wanted to write personally to explain how this assessment has been reached. “
Jones, out celebrating in Exmouth with Royal Marine mates in December last year, punched Cemal outside The Loft pub after closing time. Both men had been drinking and struck up conversation with a bit of lighthearted ‘back-and-forth’ banter.
Jones ‘calmly’ punched Cemal hard in the face at being asked if he was Brummie.
Royal Marine Joseph Jones was jailed for manslaughter after killing Cemal Yilmaz with a fatal punch. Image: D&C Police.
Mum Ann-Marie, said: “Cemal turned because he’d finished the conversation with him and he started talking to somebody else.
“With that, Joseph Jones just punched him from nowhere. There was no fighting, no aggression, no arguing or anything. He just punched him out of the blue. Cemal fell to the floor and that was it.”
Gentle giant Cemal was knocked out cold before he hit the road with a ‘terrifying thud’.
Jones walked away to get a train back to the Lympstone Marine camp, telling his shocked pals he would not be disrespected.
Brother Merik, the first family member to arrive, described the ‘shock’ of seeing Cemal unconscious on the road. “He was just lying there. I didn’t really know what to do.,” he said. “You’re in shock, I didn’t know what to think.”
Merik Yilmaz was shocked to see his brother Cemal unconscious on the road after he was fatally punched by Royal Marine Joseph Jones during a night out in Exmouth. Image: BBC News Hub
Onlookers rushed to help Cemal. He was given CPR on the road then taken to hospital and hooked up to life support.
Cemal’s mum said: “The neurosurgeon come in and just said there was nothing they could do for him. He’d fractured his skull and had a massive brain haemorrhage at the back of his skull. His brain was covered in blood basically.”
Cemal died three days later on December 16 from a non-survivable head injury. A post-mortem found he had bleeding on the brain and a fractured jaw.
*Video: BBC News Hub.
