'Cheeky' yob's attack left victim with brain damage

Victim Marc Nicholson, 24, is unlikely to recover from the brain damage he suffered and is still in hospital - seven months after the late-night street attack.

Terrified girlfriend Sarah Jane Kay said she was "sickened" by the blows as she tried to stop the attack, near Crewe Toll, before running for help.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday schoolboy Rhys Cleaver, 16, and a 15-year-old admitted assaulting Mr Nicholson to the danger of his life, leaving him permanently impaired, on May 22 this year.

Judge Lady Clark of Calton offered sympathy to his family and friends as she called for background reports, before sentencing the attackers.

Advocate depute Pino Di Emidio, prosecuting, described how Cleaver and his pals were hanging round the street, guzzling from cans of cider or other alcohol.

Cleaver, wearing a distinctive red Manchester United top had blood on his face and track-suit bottoms because he had been punched earlier in the evening.

Mr Di Emidio said a police van stopped to note details of the group.

"Rhys Cleaver was cheeky to the police officers who put him into the back of the van in order to get him to calm down."

The court heard that after the police let Cleaver go, the group, which included two schoolgirls, walked along Crewe Road North.

At the same time Mr Nicholson and Miss Kay were heading for her flat, after a night out.

The youths shouted insults, then Cleaver punched Mr Nicholson, knocking him to the ground.

Mr Nicholson got up and ran across the road but Cleaver and the 15-year-old caught up with him, and he fell again. The two kicked him and stamped on his head.

One of the schoolgirls with Cleaver phoned police because she was afraid Mr Nicholson was dead.

He was taken, unconscious, to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where surgeons performed an emergency tracheotomy to help his breathing.

Medics said the most likely cause of the brain injury was lack of oxygen because of obstruction to his airway. Without the operation he would have died, they said.

Mr Di Emidio said Mr Nicholson was now able to move his hands and gesture and could speak some words. By March his family hoped to bring him home to a specially adapted house.

Cleaver of Crewe Road North also admitted breaching bail conditions by threatening witnesses.

The 15-year-old boy also admitted sending a message to a social networking site asking one of the girls to change her statement and to threatening witnesses.

They will remain in custody pending their next court appearance in Glasgow on February 8.

Lady Clark told them she hoped they regretted the terrible injuries they had caused. The judge said: "Let me express my sympathy to the family, relatives and friends of the victim."