A daughter has paid tribute to her ‘gentle giant’ father who died after being punched in the street.

Anthony ‘Tony’ Miskimmon was punched in the head and knocked unconscious on Station Road in Antrim, Northern Ireland on Saturday, November 2.

He was rushed to hospital to undergo treatment but tragically died three days later.

Originally from Belfast, Tony lived in the Isle of Man for 20 years between the late 1970s to 1999, before returning to Northern Ireland to live there permanently.

While living in the Isle of Man, Tony had two daughters - Lani and Nikki. He lived at various locations all around Douglas and eventually bought a house on Lakeside Road.

Speaking about her dad, Lani said: ‘He was a character, and he was incredibly tall. He loved the craic and everyone seemed to know of him.

‘He loved to have a drink in the old bars like The Old Curiosity Shop, The Dog's Home and The Cat With No Tail. Everyone knew of him as “Darby”, and he was a big, gentle giant.

‘I was really well known when I lived in the Isle of Man because of my dad, and he always took the time to speak to people.

‘My uncle also owns a tattoo studio in Douglas called Spectrum Tattooing. My dad would tattoo there regularly as well, and up until two or three years ago he would come across every TT week and help my uncle in the studio.’

Tony, who was 74 when he died, was punched in Antrim town in Northern Ireland.

A man appeared in court two days after the incident charged with grievous bodily harm in connection with Miskimmon’s death.

A spokesperson from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said all charges, including any additional charges, will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service in due course.

PSNI Detective Inspector Sean Armstrong offered his sympathy to Tony's family and friends, and requested that anyone with information should get in touch with the police.

He said: ‘Our enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding Tony’s death and I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Station Road, Antrim on Saturday, November 2 between 7pm and 8pm and may have witnessed this incident, or has any other information that would assist with our enquiries, to please get in touch.’

Lani, who now lives in Australia, travelled to see her father the morning after he was punched, and was told by the doctor that Tony only had a ‘1% chance of survival’.

She was shown a scan of her father’s brain which showed ‘catastrophic bleeding’ all over it.

He died ‘peacefully’ on the evening of Wednesday, November 6.

Lani last spoke to her father on the Saturday morning, while he was eating breakfast and getting ready to go to The Dockers Club in Belfast.

He is survived by his two daughters, while he also had four grandchildren - three girls and a boy.

Lani and Tony had recently discussed plans for him to fly to Australia and visit his grandchildren soon.

She said: ‘We are beyond devastated. He was just a lovely gentleman, and I never went a day without knowing how much I was loved.

‘I want to emphasise that me, my sister and all of his grandchildren absolutely adored him. We were his world, and he was ours.’