A 'loving' and 'hard-working' man left fighting for his life after a brutal vigilante attack has died more than five years later.
Alex Dwyer was 20 when he arranged to meet Steven Pritchard, 37, who suspected he'd stolen a bike from his son and was advertising it for sale on the Gumtree website.
The older man, who pretended to be a potential buyer, subjected Mr Dwyer to a horrific assault, which included a final stamp while he was lying prone on the floor, egged on by a comment from one of the three-man group of, "Give him another one lad."
Burly Pritchard, who refused to name his accomplices, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after he admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Now, it has emerged the victim, who lived in Walton, died at his mum's home, on May 4, aged 25.
A family member told the ECHO: "Alex was a hard-working and loving person who had his own business when he was a teenager.
"He had a lot going for him as a child and when that happened he had extensive brain damage.
"But when he woke up he wasn't the same person as before, his whole attitude had changed and he was paranoid about everything."
After the merciless beating, Mr Dwyer suffered a bleed on the brain, spinal nerve damage, needed a complex operation to have a large part of his skull removed, and struggled with a loss of memory and "dealing with his emotions," Liverpool Coroner's Court was told today.
The assault meant the builder suffered from mental health difficulties, including anxiety and depression, self-harmed on occasion, and had previously attempted to kill himself.
He would sometimes overdose on his prescribed medication, coroner's officer Katie Porter said, at the Gerard Majella Courthouse, in Kirkdale.
Mr Dwyer was found lying unconscious by his mum Amanda on her living room sofa.
Just before his death, the single man had sent a text to his mum, which said, "It's all good, I'm off."
A further text to his mum stated, "I'm coming home to get warm, and then I'll be out of here."
Mr Dwyer then took a toxic overdose of prescribed anti-depressants and painkillers.
Coroner Anita Bhardwaj told how the 25-year-old seemed to regret the suicide attempt, when he sent a message to a "contact", which read, "I can feel these tabs[sic] kicking in, stumbling, I may have made a mistake."
It was also heard he was known to act and behave "impulsively" at times.
Coroner Bhardwaj, who recorded a narrative verdict, said: "Mr Dwyer took a fatal level of prescribed medication with the intention of taking his own life.
"However, it was an impulsive action, and there was evidence he may have regretted his actions."
Nobody from the Dwyer family attended court.
After the June 12, 2014, battering, he survived the ordeal, but it had a marked effect on his mood and behaviour.
Over the past, five years, Dwyer, who needed a tube inserted into his windpipe, had spent periods of time at HMP Liverpool, where he was prone to being violent and aggressive.
The north Liverpool man was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, and could sometimes dangerously stockpile some of his medication while in jail.
He used to be on crutches and in a wheelchair for his injuries.
Mr Dwyer suffered flashbacks to Pritchard's attack, and "had extreme emotional reactions to situations," that led to self-harming an inability to "tolerate any delay."
The inmate threatened to throw himself down stairs in prison to prevent being moved to a certain wing, it was added.
"He complained of hearing voices which would wind him up, and say, 'he'd be better off dead," Ms Porter said.
Mr Dwyer, was placed in seclusion where he was accused of violent behaviour.
He was released from prison in February, this year, and went to stay with his mum.
Previously, he had stayed at several mental health facilities in the region where he made threats to staff.
When dad-of-three Pritchard, of Orrell Park, was sentenced, Liverpool Crown Court was told how a witness saw the attack on Mr Dwyer.
Prosecutors said: "Three large very stocky individuals who looked like doormen were kicking and punching Mr Dwyer.
“She heard a young man’s voice asking them to stop.
"Then he went silent.”
The witness described them turning to leave after putting the bike in a van but one said: “Give him another one lad.”
He said: “One of them returned to where Mr Dwyer would have been lying prone on the floor and stamped down really hard.
“She describes hearing a sickening thud and then the other two men returned from the van and kicked him once again. There was blood everywhere.”
Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, asked if Mr Dwyer really had stolen the bike and was told if he had been well enough to be interviewed about it by police he would have been, but after the attack he was too ill.
Mr Dwyer, who did not remember the assault, also suffered a blood clot on the brain leading to reduced attention, memory, planning and insight and mild language impairment.
Judge Goldstone, when sending Pritchard down, told him: “I take the view this was a premeditated attack leading these two men in a vigilante attack in pursuit of a stole pedal cycle.
“The recovery of the pedal cycle became something of an afterthought.
“There is no place in what passes for a civilised society for vigilante attacks.”
