A TEENAGER viciously beaten up in a Bolton town centre street fight suffered the most serious case of brain damage a top neurologist had ever seen in a living person.

Craig Williams, aged 17, has been left without the use of his legs and his arms and will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

And today, as his attacker began a six year jail term in a young offenders institution for what a judge described as a "severe, sustained and savage attack", the teenager's mother bitterly condemned the "lenient" sentence.

Speaking at the family home in Hulton Lane, Deane, Mrs Pamela Walkden stormed: "The man who attacked my son should be in prison for much longer.

"I cannot say it is fair because my son is now serving a life sentence."

Last year his parents were asked if they wanted to switch off a life support machine which, at the time, was keeping him alive. They refused and Craig somehow managed to fight off the infection which, in addition to his horrendous injuries, was threatening his life.

The attacker, Simon Clarke, 18, of Nunnery Road, Bolton, is expected to serve only four years of his six year jail term. He pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court to a charge of causing intentional grievous bodily harm. Both boys were former pupils in the same year at Deane School.

Craig, who six months after the attack is still confined to a special head injuries unit at Salford's Ladywell Hospital, will be totally dependent on nursing care for the rest of his life. In a report to the court yesterday, a top consultant neurologist at Hope Hospital, Salford, said the brain injuries Mark suffered were the most serious he had seen in a living person in his 20 years experience.

Clarke pleaded guilty to the assault charge. Motorists stopped their cars in St Georges Road to break up the fight.

Clarke said that after delivering a punch, which knocked Mr Williams to the ground, he stamped twice on his victim's head, and once on his arm.

Witnesses gave different accounts of what they saw taking place, describing repeated stamping on the head, kicking and punching on the ground.

Mr Paul Humphries defending, said it was not possible to define precisely how the brain damage came about. After hearing evidence from witnesses, from Clarke and a medical consultant, called on his behalf, Judge Timothy Mort said that he could not accept Clarke's account of the fight. Mr Humphries told the judge, that his client accepted his behaviour was disgraceful. He was sorry for the victim and his family. "If he could change places with Mr Williams, he would," said Mr Humphries.

Sentencing Clarke, the judge said it was a "severe, sustained and savage" attack on a man lying helpless on the ground. The judge said Clarke was lucky not to be facing a charge of attempted murder.

Today Craig's family were still struggling to come to terms with the injuries their son suffered on one of his first nights out in Bolton town centre.

His mother, who works for Bolton Social Services, said: "We are so hurt and angry. I can't think about the future. We just live from one day to the next.

"Craig is angry about what has happened to him. He is a very bitter young man who had dreams for the future. Now his life has been shattered."

She added: "Our lives will never be the same again. Our lives are in ruins."

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