Scott’s father hopes for a miracle

Michael Vineer, who lives in Worthing in east Sussex, hopes to see Scott make a full recovery but in reality believes that his son, who remains in hospital, still has a long road ahead of him.

Mr Vineer, who last saw his son four-weeks ago says Scott is not unconscious any more and had is now recovering at Musgrave Park Hospital (he had been at the Royal Victoria).

“I just don’t know what was going through someone's mind to do this,” he said. “What damage have they done to him? For someone to beat another person repeatedly over the head like that. They tried to break his neck. I have seen some scraps but you don’t expect this to happen to someone that you know. Why would anyone do this? It was not easy to deal with and still is not. Thankfully he is slowly pulling through. We all just hope and pray he is getting better.”

That Friday, September 7, will be a day that Mchael will never forget. The police rang him to tell him that Scott was missing and it was only later that day that Scott’s mum phoned him to say that he was found beaten up at a disused furniture store.

It was Wednesday, before Michael could fly over to visit his son but was shocked to see him lying in hospital on a life support machine.

“I just burst into tears, when I saw him,” he said. “I had never seen anything more horrific in my life. I have seen what happens to people when they fight or have scraps but nothing like that.

“It was horrible. It was a big shock. We did not even know then if he was ever going to make it.”

He went on to say that he now hopes the public will do all they can to catch those who did this to his son.

“I want to see these people behind bars,” he said. “The police have done all they can but they need evidence. Why did someone just randomly attack Scott like that? There is a lot of nutty people out there. I think Scott might just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He described Scott as a good lad.

“He is just a good quiet big lad,” he said. “I am not just saying that because I am his father but he is. A big gentle giant. I am six foot four and he is even taller than me. He is no wimp and a strong lad.”

He said that he hoped that he could be with him more.

“Obviously, if I lived near him I would be by his bed side every day but I cannot afford to go over that often but I think of him all the time,” he said. “I feel helpless over here. Whoever did that is a sick person.

“Did Scott know the person? Was it someone he knew or did he try to lure him into the area.

“When I went to see him last I made him laugh. We had giggles about cheese sandwiches and I told him that once he turned 18 in January I wanted to take him out for a pint.

“I hope that he will make a full recovery soon but this will be a long road for him to climb.”