A KILLER who walked free from court could face a prison sentence after all.

Taxi driver Mazhar Ali, 26 - who now lives in London - was given a suspended sentence at Teesside Crown Court last year for the manslaughter of unemployed Stockton gardener Colin Arnold.

He felled Mr Arnold, 34, with a single punch, claiming he had provoked him with a racist remark.

The judge said it was a "moderate punch, which, but for Mr Arnold's drink, would have ordinarily not caused him any serious harm".

But a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said yesterday that the sentence on Ali had been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General "for them to consider whether or not the sentence was unduly lenient".