‘Worse than death’ for victim

Date published: 17/11/2008

Loved-up salesman Steven Hogg had got the girl, a good job and had a dream wedding and honeymoon to look forward to.

Yet just weeks before he was due to marry, his life and that of his bride-to-be was ruined by a vicious martial arts thug on a drinking binge in Chadderton.

Steven (38), was flipped into the air after drunken workmate Francis Skachill — a Thai boxing fanatic — carried out a reckless manoeuvre to get even with him during a row.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the victim was upended by Skachill’s deadly martial arts move which caused him to land on his head on the concrete floor with a “sickening crack.”

The impact caused Steven permanent brain damage costing him his sight, speech and virtually all bodily movement which doctors expect will remain with him for a lifetime.

His fiancée, Alison Ringrose (37), had been busy planning their wedding.

She said: “My whole world fell apart that day. I am now an emotional wreck. The simple things that I took for granted are no longer in my grasp. I cry every day.”

Five months on, Steven is still in hospital — permanently paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. He needs 24-hour care and has to be fed through a tube.

He has lost his sight, cannot speak and can barely communicate by making thumbs-up signs.

On Friday, Skachill, of Rigby Street, Higher Broughton, Salford, was beginning two-and-a-half years behind bars for causing Steven grievous bodily harm. The June 20 incident broke out when Steven, who worked as a sales representative for a kitchen firm, went out with two colleagues to the Clayton Green pub in Chadderton. Skachill, who worked for the same firm, joined the party but a row broke out between him and Steven.

Skachill grabbed Steven by the wrist and flipped him on his head. Witnesses spoke of a sickening cracking sound. Skachill fled the scene but was arrested near by. Judge Timothy Mort said: “Some might say what happened to Steven is worse than death. It is unlikely the family will ever be released from this torture.”