A SOUTHAMPTON man who was kicked within an inch of his life has today spoken of his battle to rebuild his life.

James Ede almost died following the attack which yesterday led to three teenagers being locked up. Winchester Crown Court heard that Mr Ede, 37, was set upon by the teenage gang outside a nightclub in Queen's Terrace, Southampton.

He suffered serious head injuries and was unconscious in intensive care for four days.

Mr Ede, a father of three, said he had no memory of the attack but the effects had been devastating.

His girlfriend Christine Small, 19, has left him as she is unable to cope with his aggression and he is still too ill to work. He has lost a new job he was due to start in Ireland.

"My life has fallen apart. It has been a terrible year. I never expected it to happen to me and it has been hard coming to terms with it, especially my own vulnerability.

"Losing Christine has been the biggest thing. She could not cope. My temper just got worse.

"I can't control my emotions and lose my temper over tiny things. It is not something I like to admit. I am seeing a counsellor. But I just want her back. I miss her terribly."

At Winchester Crown Court judge Mr Justice Tucker said he was unhappy that his powers of sentence were restricted because of an earlier change in the defendants' pleas.

James Azzopardi, 19, from Staplehurst Close, Weston, and two other youths aged 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent - which carries a maximum term of life imprisonment.

However after vital witnesses refused to attend court the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges of GBH and violent disorder. They were each sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders' institution following the incident in February.

The judge said: "My powers are severely restricted in this case, to 24 months for the two younger defendants and this is wholly inadequate in my view." He reduced the sentence by four months in return for guilty pleas.

Mr Ede, from Woolston, added: "The attack has changed my life. I now know how fragile life is. "I think I have had all the luck I am ever going to have. Now it seems I am getting no luck at all."

He said: "I was a little disappointed by the sentence. They will be out in ten months. I was unconscious but they left and then came back and gave me another kicking. They stepped over the line. People have said we will sort them out when they get out. But I am not looking for revenge. I may feel differently later," said Mr Ede.

Currently unemployed, he was a boilermaker at Vosper Thornycroft from 1979-86.

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