I DON'T know about you, but it’s getting harder and harder to enjoy a good night’s sleep when your youngsters are out on the town.

Until you hear that reassuring sound of their key in the front door, it’s hard to relax, safe in the knowledge that their pals or public transport have got them home safely.

I had the misfortune of being in Bournemouth’s Horseshoe Common area in the early hours of one Sunday morning recently and was glad to get out with my daughter, who has vowed not to darken its doorstep again.

The sight of so many people drinking on an empty head won’t come as a surprise to some people, but it never ceases to amaze me just how many lives are changed by the effects of drink.

Take Richard Clanfield, who is lucky to be alive after a drunken fracas in Poole. His fight with Steven Sault, fuelled by plenty of drink during the evening, it appears, resulted in a punch that sent Richard to the pavement, the hospital and subsequently into a coma.

Richard wasn’t some young idiot spoiling for trouble, but a 40-something in the wrong place at the wrong time and, according to the court evidence, in the wrong state.

There are many salutary tales of drink causing violence and the sad thing about this particular near-death experience is that it is just so common these days.