A club doorman has been jailed for six years after leaving a businessman close to death when he pushed him down a flight of stairs in a fit of temper.
Philip Nero, 50, was in a coma for nearly two months after suffering "dreadful" injuries in the incident as he celebrated starting up a new business.
Yesterday a judge said it was "highly unlikely" Mr Nero would be the same again.
Jailing 36-year-old Dean Lister for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, Judge Kerry Macgill told him there had to be a considerable custodial sentence to reflect the seriousness of what he did. Judge Macgill said of Mr Nero: "He is obviously going to have to make considerable progress to return to anything like the man he was. I think that's highly unlikely."
Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Nero, of Tonbridge Close, Wibsey, Bradford, was admitted to hospital with a fractured skull after the incident at a nightclub in Halifax in May this year.
He was in a coma and had a blood clot on his brain. Mr Nero was unconscious on a ventilator for six weeks. He had an operation to remove part of his skull, surgery for breathing complications and suffered acute renal failure.
He was in intensive care until June 23 but was allowed home in August, two days before the birth of his grandson, Reece, and is now being looked after by his family. Prosecutor Lesley Dickinson said he was now able to walk with a frame, but was still confused and had trouble with his memory and faced further surgery next month to insert a plate in his head.
After the case, Mr Nero, who has been left blind in one eye and prone to depression, branded Lister a "coward."
He said: "I've got to suffer like this for the rest of my life.
"Half my memory is gone. I've got depression and I find everything sad. I get emotional and cry at little things. I used to go the gym, bodybuilding with my son Carl. Now my weight has dropped from 11st 8lbs to 7st 5lbs."
But he said he was determined to get as fit as he could and said his grandson had given him a new lease of life.
"I love him to bits. He's given me a reason to live longer.
"This time next year I want to be back at work. I'm a fighter and I want to get to be something like I was before." His son Carl said: "We didn't think he would ever come through. Many times the doctors said he'd got 24 hours to live."
Lister, formerly of Beacon Place, Buttershaw, who was convicted after a two-day trial last month, had worked with Mr Nero as doormen - but Mr Nero then set up his own security firm.
On the day of the incident they had an amicable and happy lunch together, but in the evening they exchanged words at the nightclub.
The judge told Lister, who appeared in court on crutches and with his leg in plaster: "There was an intention to go outside and resolve the dispute physically. Mr Nero was heard by a doorman to say I'll fight you outside.' "You appear on CCTV and push Mr Nero, with what I can only describe as considerable force, hard between his shoulder blades and he goes headlong down a very steep flight of stairs. It is evident he wasn't expecting it." As he fell, Mr Nero banged his head on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
The judge said he accepted Lister was full of remorse and had not intended to cause the extent of injuries that he did. He said he also accepted the attack was not planned or premeditated, but a sudden flash of temper with the intention of getting in a pre-emptive strike before Mr Nero did.
Richard Wright, mitigating, said there was a very low risk of Lister re-offending. He said he had always worked hard and supported his family. "He knows he has caused that to come to an end," said Mr Wright.
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