A heartbroken family are furious that a man avoided jail for a bar attack which left their son with life-changing injuries.
Kyle Brummell, 35, was knocked unconscious in Mathew Street bar Hardy's on June 11 last year. Kyle, from Wigan, was "minding his own business" while out celebrating his friend's birthday.
At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Joanne Moore described how Kyle's group were "dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves" in Hardy's when one of their group - Mark Edwards - spilled his drink onto James Guy.
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Guy, 37, of Bradfield Road in Crewe, then tipped his beer over the man's head. Mr Edwards was then seen on CCTV footage, which was played to the court, throwing an unknown object at the defendant.
Guy retaliated again by punching Kyle once to the left-hand side of his face. He hit his head as he fell from a bar stool. He remained unconscious on the dancefloor for around 40 minutes, and was only "revived" once he was taken to hospital.
Kyle suffered significant swelling and two bleeds on the brain. He was in a coma, put on a ventilator and then remained in critical care in Liverpool for days. He then spent weeks in hospital and is now living with his parents, still feeling the effects of the attack.
His injuries have changed his life, leaving him unable to work. As well as having to learn to walk and talk again, he has had a total of eight seizures since, with two resulting in further hospital treatment.
Guy admitted wounding without intent during an earlier hearing and avoided jail yesterday. He was handed a 21-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months and told to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 12 days and a 56-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement as well as being ordered to pay £275 in court costs.
Kyle's mum Lynda Brummell, 59, told the ECHO of her anger about the sentence. She also said that Kyle's and her family's lives have been "turned upside down" since the incident.
Lynda, a child social care worker from Wigan, said: "I've got no words, we're all very upset, we've had loads of messages from friends and family saying they can't believe it."
She added: "There's no closure. The sentence could have given a bit of closure, but I feel like he's laughing at us all. We feel like we're living the sentence because of Kyle's injury."
About finding out Kyle had been injured, Lynda said: "That call we got is every parent's worst nightmare. You worry when they're in their teens and in their 20s, but 35, getting a call like that is horrendous.
"He was in a coma on the ventilator for three days in critical care in Liverpool. They then referred him to the ward upstairs. He couldn't walk, talk, eat. He had nurses with him at all times, he didn't know where he was, he was all confused.
"We had to shower him. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see our son, who is normally so full of life, to be like that. He had to be fed liquidised food, so he lost a stone and a half.
"He couldn't swallow, there was a risk of him choking. It's just been an absolutely horrendous time, the worst time in our entire lives.
Kyle could not recognise his own parents at times after the incident. The entire family has been affected by his injuries, which have meant he is unable to return to his job as a roofer. Lynda also has not worked for the past year, spending her time looking after Kyle.
Lynda said: "I've not really worked since this happened because he needs supervising. He put a pizza in once and fell asleep and almost burned the house down, because he forgets."
She added: "Kyle has always been a grafter, but he's not worked for 12 months because of this. He'd just got a really good job - he'd only been there three weeks and then this happened. So that's scuppered all the plans and all his future thinking.
"He struggles with his speech, he can't always get his words out, so that makes him frustrated. The occupational therapist (OT) still comes to the house. He's got issues with his food.
"He can't go to sleep at night because his eyes are wide open. The OT said it's what they call 'wired but tired'. Your brain sends signals to eat, drink, sleep and all that.
"He started with seizures at Christmas and they have been horrendous to watch. I really thought he was dying with the first one he had. He couldn't breathe, his lips were blue."
She added: "He's very fatigued. He is totally not the person he was. It's heartbreaking for us.
"Seeing him not being able to work is hard. He's 35, his whole life is in front of him."
Kyle's sister and his dad Andrew, 59, have also taken time off to look after him. At the moment, the family are waiting for appointments at a seizure clinic and at a psychiatrist.
Lynda said: "He was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome at 15 and that has got a lot worse. He used to be able to suppress his ticks, but he can't now. It's all to do with his brain injury."
She added: "The fact you can go and have your life completely changed, but he's ended up walking free.
"I'm upset, angry, frustrated, I'm heartbroken. We all are."
However, Lynda wanted to thank the police, The Walton Centre, Salford Royal Hospital and all the health services who are still involved with Kyle's recovery. She also shared her appreciation for witnesses who came forward to help Kyle.
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