A daughter has released horrifying photos of the fatal head injuries suffered by her father after a single punch from a bouncer.
Kirsty Taylor, 23, from Shrewsbury, is furious Neil Hotchkiss received a sentence of just two years for fatally injuring her father Scott after an argument during a night out in August 2012.
Mr Taylor, then 41, was left paralysed and reliant on round-the-clock care before dying four years later from the head injury and aspiration pneumonia.
Scott Taylor, then 41, was left paralysed and reliant on round-the-clock care before dying four years later from the head injury and aspiration pneumonia. He is pictured in an undated image following the attack in August 2012
This month Hotchkiss, 37, made a last minute plea change to manslaughter and was told he would serve half his two years on licence – having previously been imprisoned for 16 months for GBH over the attack.
In her first ever interview, healthcare assistant Ms Taylor said: ‘It’s disgusting what’s happened. Hotchkiss will be out soon, while I’m left with just my dad’s graveside to visit.
‘I feel sad that this is a closed book now – there’s nothing more I can do.
‘I want people to understand the damage a punch can do. It can change – or destroy – a life.’
The two men had a disagreement over Mr Taylor taking a drink outside at the Station Hotel in Wellington, Shropshire, at around 9pm.
Mr Taylor, then 41, was left paralysed and reliant on round-the-clock care before dying four years later from the head injury and aspiration pneumonia. He is pictured in an undated image, left, and after a cranioplasty operation he underwent in 2014
Ms Taylor (pictured with her father in an undated image from hospital) said: ‘I want people to think of him as he was before the accident – so happy, a lovely family man.’
Mr Taylor walked towards the door with a drink in hand – but Hotchkiss challenged him, telling him he had to leave his glass indoors.
After asking why and having the reason explained to him, Mr Taylor began to head back inside, then muttering something under his breath – possibly a swear word – resulting in Hotchkiss deciding to eject him.
The two men exchanged words outside but, while Mr Taylor was upset, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that he was in no way aggressive.
Kirsty Taylor, 23, from Shrewsbury, has released disturbing images of her father’s images to raise awareness about the damage that single punches can cause
Mr Taylor took a step toward Hotchkiss, but is not thought to have touched him.
The bouncer, however, reacted furiously, punching him and causing him to fall to the ground, hitting his head.
After seeing Hotchkiss thump Mr Taylor, knocking him out, bystanders called an ambulance, which took him to University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
Medics managed to save him by removing part of his skull to relieve pressure, later replacing it with stomach fat.
Ms Taylor recalled: ‘The first I heard there was anything wrong was when police knocked on my door at 4am, telling me to come to hospital quickly.
‘It was a miracle he even made it through that night. But he was never the same again.
‘At first, we weren’t sure exactly which parts of his brain had been damaged, so it was a waiting game.
‘The effects were more physical than mental. Though he had problems with short term memory, he could still recall everything before and who all of his family were.
‘Dad absolutely loved life but he struggled with how much things had changed.’
In March 2014, Hotchkiss was jailed for 16 months after admitting GBH.
Ms Taylor took her father along to the hearing, hoping to confront the thug first hand with the consequences of his crime and the damage he had caused.
Mr Taylor after having a tracheostomy in 2015 (left) and in hospital after contracting pneumonia in 2013
Mr Taylor (pictured in an undated image taken on a bus) developed epilepsy and suffered a stroke after the incident
‘It’s one thing to read it all on paper, but I thought if he saw my dad sitting there, in his wheelchair, it’d open his eyes to what he’d done,’ she said.
For the next two years, Mr Taylor health was turbulent, as he fought off bouts of pneumonia, had a stroke and also developed epilepsy.
At first, he had carers call round four times a day, with Ms Taylor popping in between appointments, often taking taxis across town in the small hours.
Hotchkiss, 37, (pic in a police mug shot) made a last minute plea change to manslaughter and was told he would serve half his two years on licence – having previously been imprisoned for 16 months for GBH
But after Mr Taylor suffered a seizure and fallen off his bed whilst home alone, leaving him trapped and unable to answer the door to her, it was decided 24-hour care was needed.
In April 2016, Ms Taylor was Skyping him from a holiday in Mexico, when he mentioned feeling poorly.
She said: ‘I told him to tell his carers, which he did before eventually going to hospital a few hours later.
‘I called him again as he lay on the ward and asked if he wanted me to come home. He said, ‘No, I’ll be fine.’ So I told him I loved him, and he replied, ‘Love you more.’ That was the last thing he ever said to me.’
Just hours later, Mr Taylor died.
As second opinions were needed on his post-mortem, to determine if it was the head injury that had killed him – meaning Hotchkiss could be charged again – his body was not released until four months later.
By this time it had deteriorated so badly the family could not see him at the chapel of rest.
‘At his funeral, we had him cremated in an Armani suit. It’s something he always said he wanted to wear, so we made that wish come true for him, in a way,’ said Ms Taylor.
Mr Taylor, who was described as a ‘lovely family man’, is pictured here after an operation he underwent two years before he die
Ms Taylor Skyping her dad just before she went to Mexico when he told her he was feeling unwell
Ms Taylor with her father, Scott, pictured in an undated image taken after the incident in August 2012
While Hotchkiss is back behind bars again, Ms Taylor is disgusted by his lack of remorse.
She continued: ‘Hotchkiss’ defence lawyer said he’s sorry, but I don’t believe that. He changed his plea at the last minute, making us wait and worry for months that we’d have to sit through a trial.
‘He wasted our time and the court’s time, just to buy a bit for himself. I desperately wish there was something I could do to change the sentence.’
Now she is determined to remember her dad for the kind, doting man he was, rather than for his horrific death.
‘I want people to think of him as he was before the accident – so happy, a lovely family man,’ she said.
‘The family think and talk about him all the time. We’ve had jewellery made with his cremation ashes, inscribed with his name, birth and death dates.
‘We’ll never forget him.’
Ms Taylor said of her father (pictured in undated images before, left, and after the): ‘The family think and talk about him all the time’
Mr Taylor’s headstone which his daughter visits regularly. It is pictured in an undated image