'I could have lost him forever'

Henry Webster was left with brain injuries after being attacked with a hammer at his school in Wiltshire in 2007.

A total of 13 young men have been convicted for their part in plotting to severely beat Henry.

A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, has pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder.

After reporting restrictions were lifted, Henry's mother, Liz, tells how the incident has destroyed her son's

life and pushed the family to its limits.

At 4pm on 11th January 2007, I received a fraught call from my youngest son who told me Henry had been attacked with some kind of weapon to the head.

Henry Webster's mother, Liz, said her son's life had been destroyed

We rushed down to the school in the car, and words cannot express how dreadful and stressful those five minutes were.

When we got to the school Henry was laying on the tennis courts and there was blood absolutely everywhere. He was conscious but obviously very distressed.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think anything like this could happen to one of my children whilst at school.

After a six-hour wait, an X-ray revealed the devastating news Henry's skull was fractured. He was then transferred to the neurology department in Frenchay Hospital and he had an operation to remove the piece of bone from his brain and a blood clot.

The realisation of the true impact of Henry's injuries took me some time to come to terms with, as my prior knowledge of brain injury was limited.

My son's life and his future prospects have been destroyed by the events of January 11th last year Liz Webster

As a family, we had to cope with so many new and different emotions over the last year and it has been incredibly testing.

Henry has been so strong and brave and I am very proud of him. I appreciate that I could have lost him forever on that day.

Henry was not able to return to education for almost 10 months, he wasn't well enough to sit his GCSEs and, due to problems with concentration, short-term memory loss and fatigue, it is looking unlikely he will achieve his ambition of going to university and becoming a civil engineer.

Henry is now at a boarding school and they have been so supportive and have assisted in re-building his confidence; he is able to play tennis and football, although he won't be able to play rugby again as the doctors have told us another brain injury would be fatal.

Since their birth, my children's well-being and in particular, their safety has always been paramount.

From when both of the boys were very young I took a decision to start up my own business so that I could work from home so that I could always be there for my two boys.

I believe I have instilled in Henry and his brother the good manners and decency that I would expect from other boys and girls of his age.

Henry knows the difference between right and wrong. Henry is and has always has been a respectful, polite, gentle and loving young man.

My son's life and his future prospects have been destroyed by the events of January 11th last year.

I am sure that those pupils at the school who witnessed the incident, some of whom have courageously given evidence at court, will themselves be blighted by those events.