SHANE Tunney may have become known as the victim of a horrendous crime - but his family want him remembered as the man he was - filled with "passion, ambition and drive". JULIA BREEN reports.

VIX Cooper kept a vigil at her boyfriend, Shane Tunney's bed, as he fought for life after being critically injured in a brutal street attack.

For three weeks there had been little sign of movement as he was kept sedated. But two days before the couple's fourth anniversary, his sedatives had been reduced.

"I remember it was the 13th of July," says Vix. " He opened his eyes and looked at me, and we made eye contact.

"He lifted his arm up, held my hand and I saw a tear roll down his cheek.

"I knew then he was there."

That brief flicker of recognition was their last moment together. Two weeks later, Shane's life support machine was switched off - and he became a murder victim, five weeks after being left for dead on a Norton street.

His family, dignified but quietly devastated, have relived the hell of his death every day in court for weeks as they sit through the agony of his trial.

Vix says: "We haven't been able to sleep or function. We've had to emotionally relive it in the court case for four and a half weeks. But we knew we needed to give Shane the support and to be there."

Shane's sister, Sarah Ellis says: "I will never be the same. We move forward in slow motion."

His father, struggling with emotion to speak, adds: "We all deal with it in different ways. It will never go away now. He is with us everyday. From the days we were in the hospital with him, we always believed he was coming home.

"Then they said they would have to switch the life support machine off.

"It has been cruel to us as a family having to go through it all again (through the court case)."

Vix reads out a statement from the whole family, part of which says: "Shane was so much more to us than words can even describe. However, he is now always going to be associated with this vicious attack.

"This is how people will remember him, he will become a statistic, and yet he was so much more than that to many people.

"This is one of the things that breaks our hearts because we want him to be remembered for all the right reasons."

She described Shane as having an "admirable love for life", who strived for perfection. Kind-hearted, selfless, with many, many friends, he was never afraid to try anything new.

He loved nothing better than tinkering with cars - sometimes out on the drive until 2am - and "had a heart of gold".

Vix and Shane had many plans together, including building their own home and owning "a family of puppies".

She says: "We all have a hole in our loves where Shane should be.

"We feel blessed for the time that we had with him but deep down we will always know that we should have had so much more."

The family thanked hospital staff, the police and legal team, supportive friends, and the overwhelming support of the people of Norton, Stockton.

Vix says: "Of course we want those responsible for Shane's death to get the punishment they deserve, however, it will never come close to what we have lost."

Sarah adds: "People keep saying to us he was in the wrong place, wrong time. It doesn't comfort us. Shane was 24, why couldn't he go out? It is hard that someone has taken his life and they didn't know him.

"We need more people like him in the world, not less. It would be a happier place."