Saturday, September 12, 2009

How can they call this justice?



A YOUNG man who was left with half-a-head after being attacked must now face the prospect of no one being convicted after the Crown Prosecution Service this week revealed it had dropped the case.

Forklift driver Steve Gator, 26, Farnham Road Harold Hill was left brain damaged and with a grotesquely disfigured half-skull after he was attacked on his way home from work earlier this year.

But the young man, who now suffers seizures, has difficulty communicating and remembering, and has lost parts of his personality, will never see his attackers face court after the CPS decided "there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction."

The CPS was unwilling to elaborate on what more evidence was needed.

Speaking exclusively to the Recorder, Steve's family hit out at the decision, vowing to fight to see his attackers brought to justice.

"I can't believe it. These two have already pleaded guilty," Mum Nina, 47, said.

"Everyone is entitled to their day in court. Our boy is walking around with half-a-head - what more evidence do they need?"

Steve, nicknamed 'pin head' by friends for his small build, was walking along Hilldene Avenue around 7.30pm on January 15 when it is believed the thugs started yelling out taunts about his cousin.

When Steve confronted the teenagers he was met with a punch that sent him flying, knocking his head on the pavement and putting him in a coma for the following two weeks.

His brain quickly began swelling and doctors at Queen's Hospital removed the front half of his skull just hours after he was admitted.

Distraught mum Nina was later told he had a 15 per cent chance of survival.

The following day two teenage boys were arrested in connection with the attack.

2 comments:

Conservative Cali Girl said...

Crazy. Its like rapists here in California getting two years maybe.

At first, I thought he had a birth defect. How sad to live with so many mental issues as a result of being attacked. I feel so bad for him and his family.

beautifulnightmare said...

So many crimes aren't handled fairly when so many lives are ruined whether it be through emotional scars for some, or when permanent life altering injuries are inflicted on so many, or death. Especially when the victim happens to be white and the perpetrator happens to be a so called minority. That is what I thought when I first saw the picture also, then I read further it broke my heart and that made me angry that no one is being prosecuted over this. I send my complete sympathies and prayers to the Gator Family.

Bound for Glory - I Stood