A SINGLE moment of madness that has ruined so many lives.

That is how a mother described the action of a teenager who stabbed her son in the head with a screw-driver before leaving him for dead.

Yesterday Sue Vincent was at Bournemouth Crown Court to see 18-year-old Jason Teelin of no fixed address jailed for seven years after admitting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Nick Verron was also there in a wheelchair to face his shaven-headed attacker for the first time since the incident in Roumelia Lane, Boscombe, last summer.

Mr Verron was 25, living in Boscombe with his girlfriend and earning more than £36,000 a year when he encountered a group of youngsters outside a supermarket in Christchurch Road just after midnight on July 4.

Witnesses heard Teelin, then 17, threaten Mr Verron before stabbing him. The group dispersed, making no attempt to help the stricken man. “He had been left for dead,” said prosecutor Elisabeth Bussey-Jones.

Mr Verron’s family were told to say their goodbyes on July 19 before his life support was switched off, but he started to breathe for himself.

His memory, hearing, vision, speech and mobility have been affected by his injury and he is not expected to recover fully.

After the case, Det Insp Phil Swanton said: “No sentence can ever reflect the level of injuries that Nick sustained.

“Seven years is a substantial sentence, but it’s a shame Teelin didn’t give prior thought to the life sentence he was passing on Nick.”

Now see Nick and his mother tell their heartbreaking story in this exclusive video.

If you have trouble getting this video to play, click here to watch the whole thing.