THE four-year sentence handed to one-punch killer Lewis Gill sparked around 300 referrals to the Attorney General, it has been confirmed.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve has already confirmed he has started the process of reviewing the sentence handed to Gill, who killed Andrew Young with a single punch on a busy Charminster street.

And his staff have reiterated the fact that only one complaint was needed to kickstart the review process and there is no need for anyone else to contact them.

Gill, 20, lashed out at Asperger’s sufferer Andrew in November last year after the 40-year-old made a racist remark to an acquaintance.

After pleading guilty to manslaughter, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars at Salisbury Crown Court last Friday.

The sentence was criticised as “a joke” by Mr Young’s family, while MP Tobias Ellwood and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling also expressed concerns.

Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove also expressed her sympathy with Mr Young’s family and friends and said: “I’m appalled by this disgraceful act of violence.”

However, Gill’s mother Sherron O’Hagan has defended her son in a Daily Mail article.

Speaking from her home in Sutton, South London, she said: “It was just an accident. It’s not a big deal. This will all be forgotten tomorrow.

“He’s my son, what do you want me to say? He didn’t mean to kill him and that’s that.

“This story will be the lining of chips tomorrow. I just don’t understand what all the fuss is about.”

Mr Grieve has until March 21 to decide whether he thinks the sentence was unduly lenient. If he does, the case will go to the Court of Appeal where three senior judges will review it.