Family's plea after Doncaster man dies 17 months after attack on night out

• Delia and Philip Prudence spoke to ITV News' Jonathan Brown

The family of a father-of-one who died 17 months after an unprovoked attack left him brain damaged say he was the victim of "senseless thuggery".

John Smith was returning home after drinking with colleagues in Doncaster city centre when he was assaulted on Silver Street in July 2022.

The initial attack was followed by a second, believed to be by another person, a short time later on Hall Gate.

Mr Smith suffered severe brain injury, which required part of his skull to be removed, but after 16 months he was able to have a plate fitted and seemed to be making good progress.

However, he was found unresponsive the following month, and declared brain dead three days later, aged 40.

His mother, Delia Prudence, said: "He was walking home, and somebody came from behind, just hit him, and he went down.

"The police thought that was the only assault, but then they picked him up [on CCTV] a couple of minutes later because his friend had been assaulted further down the road, and John appeared.

"So he must have got up and then a couple of minutes later he was hit again by somebody else."

His stepfather Philip Prudence added: "[It was] just senseless, just cowards, thuggery. As far as we know he didn't know [the culprits]."

Following the attack, Mr Smith had extensive surgery, resulting in part of his skull being removed.

"It was touch and go for a week," said Mrs Prudence. "We didn't think he'd even survive that assault, but he fought and he came through it, which was a miracle."

Mr Prudence said: "It was horrifying to see him hooked up to all these instruments."

Mr Smith suffered regular seizures and was in and out of hospital.

Mrs Prudence said: "Every time he had a seizure, we noticed his speech would become a little bit more slurred, his memory was getting worse, and we did see a decline in him.

"He wasn't as upbeat as he used to be, he was suffering bouts of depression because he couldn't work - he did start to go downhill quite a lot."

After an operation to fit a plate on 24 November last year, his health improved.

But on 8 December, Mr Smith was found unresponsive, and declared brain dead three days later.

He left eight-year-old daughter Robyn.

Mrs Prudence said: "Every penny that he earned went to his daughter. They were very close, you couldn't separate them when they were together.

"[Now] he's got a daughter who's now not got a dad.

"Having to tell an eight-year-old she's not going to see her dad again - I wouldn't like to do that again."

She described her son as "lively" and "caring".

"if you got on a bus and there was an old lady or even someone with a child, he'd get up," she said.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: "We are investigating reports of two separate assaults in Silver Street and Hall Gate in Doncaster city centre on 6 July 2022.

"A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the reported assaulted in Silver Street. He was later released on police bail pending further enquiries.

"We understand that the victim in this case has recently sadly died and our thoughts remain with his family and friends.

"Our investigation remains ongoing and we are considering various possible lines of enquiry."

Mrs Prudence said: "My biggest question [is] why did you do it?

"If you don't know him, why did you hit him? He was just on his own, he was just walking along the street.

"I can't understand anybody's mentality as to why they would just hit somebody.

"I just want to get the word out there and just try and jog somebody's memory into thinking back to that time, and if they saw anything, just report it to the police," she said.

"He was my son, he was my baby. If I could give my life up for him I would."

Mr Prudence added: "It's the families that have the life sentence. You've got to live with it, you've got to live without that person who's been taken away from you."

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