THE mother of a North-East teenager who died ten months after being attacked in a nightclub toilet says she is ecstatic after the High Court ordered a new inquest into his death.

Maxine Thompson’s son Kristian was just 19 when one punch from Mark Berry at the K2 nightclub in Consett, County Durham, in September 2010 caused him to fall, hit his head and go into a coma from which he never fully recovered.

Berry, of Leadgate, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 28 months in prison but freed two months before Mr Thompson, a keen footballer and cricketer from Burnopfield, died in a treatment centre in Northampton in July 2011.

At the first inquest in November 2012, County Durham assistant coroner Crispin Oliver recorded an open verdict.

But that was challenged by Mr Thompson’s family and today (Thursday, May 14) High Court judges ordered a fresh inquest be held.

Judge Thornton QC said: “It is our opinion that there should be a fresh inquest to examine these matters.

“We cannot say what the outcome of the fresh inquest will be and whether the medical cause of death will be ascertained.

“That will be a matter for the senior coroner, with or without a jury.

“We are therefore satisfied that, as a consequence of insufficiency of inquiry, it is necessary and desirable in the interests of justice that another inquest should be held.”

It was the outcome Mr Thompson’s family had long been campaigning and hoping for.

“We’re just absolutely ecstatic,” Mrs Thompson said. “The whole family is over the moon.”

In a further statement issued through their lawyers Lester Morrill, the family said: “All we want is justice for Kristian. We now look forward to a fresh inquest assisted by our legal team. We hope we finally get the answers we have been desperately searching for.”

Family solicitor Gemma Vine added: “This has been a long and laborious process for us and the family and we are delighted by today’s ruling and the quashing of the inquest.

“We will now concentrate on assisting the senior coroner (County Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle) with his investigations into the fresh inquest to ensure that all relevant issues are properly explored.”

Judge Thornton QC and Lord Justice Burnett ruled the first inquest had not properly investigated what role epilepsy may have played in Mr Thompson’s death and the new hearing should happen as soon as reasonably practicable.

No date has yet been announced.

Since his death, Mr Thompson’s family has been active in campaigning against alcohol-fuelled violence, including supporting Durham Police’s Punched Out Cold campaign, and will next month (June) launch their own initiative to prevent ‘one punch’ deaths, titled One Punch North East.

The Northern Echo has been pushing for tougher sentences for people who take lives with a single act of violence since 2010, under its Price of a Punch campaign.