Back from the brink

“THIS case is a tragic one after a night out enjoyed by all,” wrote Detective Constable Emma Neal, as she recalled the judge’s words in the case of a young man left blind and severely disabled when a single punch rewrote his life story.

DC Neal, a member of the Anti-Corruption Unit in Nottinghamshire, Britain, had been working on Brian Hogan’s case since July 19, 2009, the date 33-year-old British man Martin Slack delivered the blow that blew Brian’s world asunder.

DC Neal had attended Slack’s sentencing hearing on February 26 last and recorded what she could for the purpose of emailing Brian’s 38-year-old sister Grainne, married and living in New Orleans.