The mum of a Blantyre man left for dead after a savage beating, has spoken of her relief as his attacker was jailed for murder - seven years after an initial attempted murder conviction.
Kate Neil was left devastated after her son David Black required round-the-clock care following the attack.
Raymond Bell left David in a vegetative state following the horrific assault at his Rutherglen home in November 2014.
But, following David's death back in 2019 from pneumonia brought on by his traumatic brain injury, Bell - who was serving nine years for his attempted murder - was hauled back to court on a murder charge.
And last week the 36-year-old was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow, where Lord Arthurson handed him a life sentence and ordered him to serve a minimum of 18 years, backdated to 2014 when he was first remanded.
Now David's mum Kate - who cared for her son following the attack - has told of her "utter relief," telling us that justice has been served.
She told Lanarkshire Live : "I received the letter to say Bell was being tried for murder and I was terrified.
"I didn't want to face him, but so many people told me I had to go and make sure he never walked the streets. So I was determined to go to court.
"During the trial, if there was any evidence that he had tried to turn his life around and rehabilitate himself over the last seven years, then I would have felt awful that her had been recalled to face a murder trial having served that long.
"But when we saw him, he showed no remorse at all. In fact, he was staring at my daughter trying to intimidate her throughout.
"He just looked smug.
"When the judge announced he had been convicted for 18 years it was just a sense of utter relief that he won't walk the streets for a long, long time."
Back in 2014, Bell, now 36, attacked David with a table leg and savagely stomped on him as he lay unconscious following a row.
He then fled the property to Blackpool, leaving the dad-of-one for dead on the floor.
It wasn't until four days later that council officers discovered 35-year-old David in a pool of blood within Bell's property.
After being traced down south by police two weeks later, Bell was convicted of the attempted murder of David in 2015 and sent down for nine years.
David's life-changing injuries were so severe that his only way of communication was by blinking.
Detective Inspector Alan McAlpine welcomed the conviction.
He told Lanarkshire Live this week: "David Black endured a brutal and violent attack, which led to him requiring around the clock care, and in the end resulted in his death.
"We hope that this result will be of some comfort to David's family and friends who have also suffered at the hands of Bell's actions."
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