A teenager who left a Brit footballer in a coma unable to walk following a one-punch attack has been jailed.
The 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, had a violent history and was already subject to a 24-hour curfew at the time of the attack in Perth.
The unprovoked single punch left Danny, 26, originally from Cleaton Moor, Cumbria in the UK, with a bleed on the brain and fractured skull.
His attacker was jailed for three and a half years, while Danny's mum Nicola claimed: "No sentence would have been long enough.
"It was a light sentence but at the same time, we've got to remember this guy was 17-years-old and we're just hoping rehabilitation will do him justice and he'll come out a better person."
"We just wanted a bit of justice done for Danny and we just want to carry on with our lives now and get Danny better," Mrs Hodgson said outside court.
Perth Children's Court heard the youth was on bail and should have been obeying a 24-hour curfew order when he punched Mr Hodgson without warning near the city's train station in the early hours of 5 September, BBC news reports.
Danny, then 25, had moved from his hometown to play for Western Australian side ECU Joondalup.
The footballer was left in a coma unable to walk, and is "unlikely to ever play football again".
ABC journalist Joanna Menagh, who was in court, told BBC Radio Cumbria: "The attack on Danny Hodgson was a culmination of a seven-month crime spree of this young teenager.
"He had committed other offences including stealing alcohol from liquor stores and punching other random strangers on the street - in one case he broke a man's nose.
"He had lived in regional Western Australia before but the trouble seemed to happen when he came to Perth and he was unsupervised and was roaming the city's streets when he encountered Danny Hodgson, who had been out celebrating with team-mates after playing the final game of the season."
Ms Menagh added: "The judge said the cowardice continued after punching Danny as he ran away without offering assistance and went off to socialise with people in the city, he tried to disguise himself and avoid being detected by changing his clothing, and giving the hat he was wearing to someone else.
"The court was told it's unlikely Danny Hodgson will ever play football again and these disabilities he has suffered will be permanent."
Danny spent weeks in intensive care before he was moved to a rehabilitation hospital in November 2021.
He underwent surgery to reattach his skull earlier this year at the Sir Charles Gaidner Hospital in Perth.
Sentencing the teenager to three years and eight months in juvenile detention, the judge called his attack cowardly.
He will have to serve 22 months before he can be considered for early release.
It was a "bittersweet" moment for Danny's family who on the same day were finally able to take Danny home after he was discharged from the rehab centre.
In a Facebook post, mum, Nicola shared footage of her son walking out the centre with assistance from two staff members.
She wrote: "So this has been a bitter sweet day for us as a family. Danny's attacker got 3.5 year but we have just got Danny home for good.
"Rehabilitation from home will be gruelling but worth it. I can't stop smiling we have our boy back.
"Danny said he would walk out of hospital and he did. Still a long road ahead but we have each other."
