A MOTHER told yesterday of her continuing heartache at the lack of justice for her son who died after an unprovoked attack.

Pat Gibson was one of the speakers at a forum on court sentencing arranged by Darlington MP Alan Milburn in response to a Government report on changes in the law.

The forum, in Darlington, was the first event in the country where Home Office representatives heard what a community thinks about the current court system.

Mrs Gibson's son, Michael, died 16 months after being hit in an unprovoked attack in Darlington town centre. His attacker received only a two-year sentence, because Michael was in a coma for 16 months before he died.

As the law stood, if a victim lived for more than a year and a day after an attack, the person who carried out the assault could not be charged with unlawful killing.

Mrs Gibson campaigned, alongside The Northern Echo, to get the law scrapped and, after a three-year battle, the system was changed.

At yesterday's conference she spoke emotionally about her loss - and the injustice that her son suffered.

She said: "It's been a hard last nine years. I still get very hurt that no justice was served for my son.

"Two years for taking a young man's life is madness in anyone's eyes, and I don't think my son was given any kind of justice."

Also speaking at the conference was Councillor Bill Dixon, the cabinet member for social services at Darlington Borough Council.

He called for people from the town to tell the Home Office what they wanted to see from the courts.

He said: "It's about putting sense back into sentencing.

"We are in danger of losing public support for the police and the judiciary - and it is about sending a clear message to the Home Office about what has gone wrong with the system."

The editor of The Northern Echo, Peter Barron, spoke about people's desire for changes in the law, which was highlighted by readers' response to the newspaper's Criminal Injustice campaign.

He said: "They want to see more consistency in sentencing - and they want to see victims being given a stronger voice in the whole judicial process."

Delegates at the meeting voiced their opinions through a variety of workshops. A written report of the town's opinions will be forwarded to the Home Secretary.

The national consultation will finish on October 31 and the first of two new criminal justice bills, containing the new views, will be presented to Parliament later this year.

Read more about our Criminal Injustice campaign here.