Mum tells of horror as daughter battles back from attack

Esther Garrity was visiting her home town of Middlesbrough during a break from studying at Manchester Metropolitan University

A mum "begged" her daughter not to die after she was brutally assaulted by her boyfriend in a drug-fuelled attack.

Samuel Farley, 21, attacked Esther Garrity in Middlesbrough in April after taking LSD and cocaine.

Initially charged with attempted murder, he was jailed for 12-and-a-half years after admitting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Miss Garrity was put in an induced coma while her mother Victoria Hoban sat at her bedside "willing her back to life".

Farley, of Melbourne Close, Marton, Middlesbrough, attacked the fashion student on their way home from a night out in the town

'Scariest thing'

He broke her jaw, knocked out several teeth, and caused severe brain swelling when he hit her and stamped on her head.

"I was sat next to her [in hospital] begging her not to die, willing her back to life. It was the scariest thing ever," said Ms Hoban.

"[The attack] was almost all focused on her face and head.

"You could see there were no defensive injuries, very little on her forearms to suggest she'd had her arms up to protect herself.

"Her head was swollen, her eyes were like tennis balls.

"The doctors and nurses saved her life, and her determination and character are getting her through."

Farley was "raving in an incomprehensible fashion", police said

Farley shouted "I am God" as he struggled with police and a man who attempted to halt the attack described him as "frantic".

The court heard Miss Garrity's injuries, which a paramedic described as the worst he had seen anyone survive, were "life-changing".

Her mother told BBC Tees she is making good progress but has memory and concentration problems.

"From an emotional point of view you think 'lock him up', but I think what he got was a fair sentence," Miss Hoban said.

"I don't wish him any harm, I just want to see him serve the sentence.

"There were no warning signs. He wasn't a drug addict, he was a recreational user, and there was no indication Esther was being mistreated in any way."