THERE are some news stories which make me really angry – and last week’s front page report in The Northern Echo about the plight of Richard Stark had my blood boiling.

Richard, 38, is an innocent man who was beaten and left for dead in a Darlington alleyway. After being in a coma, Richard has been left with brain damage and scarring that will last for the rest of his life. He can no longer live in his own house and has been forced to move into a care home.

The thug who launched the savage, unprovoked attack, Stephen Starling, 36, was jailed for just two years. The reality is that he’ll serve half of that sentence.

Let’s just spell that out – the victim gets a life sentence of injury, the attacker is free to get on with his life after a year. “How can this be justice?” asked The Northern Echo’s headline. How indeed.

What made me even angrier was the explanation from the Crown Prosecution Service about why Starling escaped with the kind of lenient sentence that left decent law-abiding people shaking their heads in disbelief. He’d originally been charged with “grievous bodily harm with intent” but it was downgraded to “grievous bodily harm”, partly because his victim’s brain damage means he has no memory of what happened.

Let’s spell that out again – there is no doubt that Starling is guilty of the attack but, because he beat Richard so badly that he’s lost his memory, he’s able to get away with a lesser charge and a reduced sentence. In that case, doesn’t it suggest that violent thugs are actually better off in the eyes of the law if they inflict more serious injuries?

I remember feeling the same level of anger 24 years ago when a young man called Michael Gibson was left in a coma by another unprovoked attack in Darlington. Michael, a month short of his 21st birthday at the time, was walking through the town centre with his brother David when a thug called David Clark attacked him for no reason.

Michael was in a vegetative state for 16 months before his life support machine was switched off. His attacker was out of prison before Michael died because of the “year-and-a-day rule” which had existed in British law since the 11th Century. It meant that if the victim of an assault lived for more than a year and a day, their attacker couldn’t be charged with murder or manslaughter. Consequently, David Clark walked free before Michael took his last breath.

A campaign by Michael’s mother Pat, supported by The Northern Echo and Darlington MP Alan Milburn, resulted in the obscenely out of date year-and-a-day rule being consigned to history, where it belonged.

The law was an ass, and I feel exactly the same about the Richard Stark case. Write letters to your MP, Police and Crime Commissioner, the Hear Alll Sides page in this paper. Make a noise – because justice is being shoved in the gutter.

LAST week’s column mentioned an appeal by the admirably Daisy Chain project on Teesside.

The autism charity needs to build a safety fence between its outside play area and car park. The labour will be provided by offenders from Kirklevington Prison but around £4,000 was needed to pay for the timber.

I’m delighted to report that Nick Waites, a trustee from the Finlay Cooper Fund, read the column and has agreed to cover the cost of the wood.

The fund was set up by former Middlesbrough and England footballer Colin Cooper and his wife Julie in 2006 in memory of their son Finlay, who died in a choking accident just short of his second birthday. It aims to help children in the North-East and is on target to have raised £500,000 by the time its 10th anniversary ball is staged at Wynyard Hall on June 10.

Nick said: “As soon as I read the column, the Daisy Chain appeal struck me as something we could help with. We’re delighted to help.”

Pat Chambers, from Daisy Chain, said: “We can’t thank the Finlay Cooper Fund enough. This is going to make a huge difference.”

I love it when a plan comes together.

FINALLY, it was a privilege to compere the inaugural Star Awards staged by the North East Autism Society (NEAS) on Thursday night.

Great organisations are built with great people and it was inspiring to hear the stories of those who go the extra mille to support families affected by autism in our region.

    The event took place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, which wasn’t easy for the society’s chief executive John Pillipson, who is a season ticket holder at Newcastle.

  Society chairman Gavin Bestford, on the other hand, is an avid Sunderland fan so, naturally, a fair bit of banter ensued.

 The future may be uncertain for both Newcastle United and Sunderland football clubs – but the award-winners from the North East Autism Society are undoubtedly in the Premier League.