Mum: We've been in hell over attack (From Keighley News)

Mum: We've been in hell over attack

4:10pm Thursday 12th July 2012 in Keighley

The mother of a Keighley teacher left in a coma after an attack in Thailand has made an emotional plea for his alleged attacker to be “kept off the streets” as her son showed more positive signs of recovery.

Briton Sean Henry Tinsley, 43, was arrested by Thai police days ago at Bangkok airport on suspicion of carrying out the road rage attack against Adam Pickles, a former Bradford Grammar School pupil.

Eight weeks on from the attack mum Adele has spoken for the first time of the family’s “hell” while their son remains in a coma and their relief following Tinsley’s arrest.

Mrs Pickles, 61, said: “We hope and pray that this man is now kept off the streets until the official trial takes place.

“We do not want any other family to go through the hell we are experiencing. Adam is still in a coma and still needing to fight off infections.

“However he is moving much more than he was and seems to be understanding when we ask him to make certain movements. This is positive and gives us hope that he will surface from the coma soon.”

It is alleged that Tinsley attacked Mr Pickles with a wheelbrace after a vehicle incident in which a car was scraped.

Mr Pickles is understood to have been returning from playing pool in Pattaya – a resort 80 miles from Bangkok – where he was head of English at the Regency International School.

He was later discovered by a passer-by and rushed to hospital, where he underwent two emergency operations to remove clots and bone from his brain.

After five weeks being cared for by the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Mr Pickles was airlifted by a specialist air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) on June 24.

Tinsley, of Wolverhampton, had left Thailand after the alleged attack on Mr Pickles, but was arrested on his return on Saturday and was remanded in custody at Pattaya Provincial Court.

He is expected to stand trial and Adam’s parents Andrew, 62, and Adele Pickles have now instructed a legal team in Thailand to deal with the case as it progresses.

The arrest came in Bangkok on Saturday; the same day hundreds attended an event called PickleAID, to raise money for Mr Pickles’ parents who have plundered their savings and been forced to re-mortgage their house to pay for their son’s repatriation and care.

A spokesman for the fundraising campaign said a fundraising total for the event would be revealed in the next few days.

Meanwhile, more than £900 was raised through entry to K2 nightclub in Keighley at another fundraising event in aid of Mr Pickles, who grew up in Riddlesden.

Staff at Wakefield’s Cathedral School, where Mr Pickles taught between 2001 and 2005, have also organised a race night fundraiser on July 13 from 8.15pm at Thornes Cricket Club, Field Lane.