A THUG who left a father-of-two with brain damage after an attack outside a Notting Hill bar, has been jailed for twoyears.
Jack Cain, 27, of Dunworth Mews, Notting Hill, hit Paul Elliot, 36, of Gloucester Terrace, Bayswater, after a row outside the Balkan Bar, byTesco in Portobello Road, on November 28 last year.
The single blow left Mr Elliot, whose head hit either a lamp post or the ground as he collapsed, suffering a brain haemorrhage. The injury changed his, and his young family's life, forever.
On Friday, Blackfriars Crown Court heard that Mr Elliot has had to have three operations and has had part of his skull removed.
Though he is able to walk, he has suffered some paralysis, is unable to communicate properly and is living in a care home.
His personality has also been affected by the attack.
Mr Elliot's partner of six years, Karen Harkin, described in an impact statement the devastating fall-out from the injury for her small sons, aged three and four.
She said in the statement: "Prior to the assault, Paul took the two boys to the park and played football with them.
"They will have to grow up without the father they knew. Words cannot explain the impact this has had on our lives."
Mr Elliot's mother Violet Sedak added in a statement: "Paul lived for his two children and was a good father to them. I feel that this could have been avoided if the man had just walked away. So many lives have been ruined.
"I feel like I have lost my son. He was an active happy man and one of my best friends, now he is just a shell."
Passing sentence judge Aiden Marron QC told shaven-headed Cain: "Unhappily, the sentence I impose can never begin to reflect the physical and mental consequences from which he now suffers."
Cain, who admitted grievous bodily harm, waved to his tearful and heavily pregnant girlfriend in the public gallery as he was led from the dock.
Kensington and Chelsea police, who treated the crime as a potential murder enquiry, added that the conviction could not have been possible without the witnesses who had given evidence, despite the fear of repercussion.
