THE family of a disabled man left in a coma after one punch have spoken of their anguish.

Disabled George Spence has been in a coma since he was attacked while trying to save his girlfriend, Beverley Yeoman, from a mob of men, on Saturday.

He was trying to stick up for her after she got into a dispute with the group of four or five men outside the Royal Arms pub, in Nile Street, North Shields, at 10.45pm, when he was felled by a single blow, smashing his head on the pavement.

Mr Spence, 45, of Wilkinson Court, Jarrow, is in a critical condition at Newcastle General Hospital.

His distraught mum, Elizabeth, pleaded for anyone who knows who attacked her son to contact police.

Mrs Spence, 64, of Primrose Terrace, Jarrow, said: "I would urge anyone who saw what happened to contact the police as soon as possible. George is well known round here and is happy-go-lucky and did not deserve this."