Teacher left in Coma after Thailand attack to Return to Yorkshire

Adam Pickles, from Keighley, has yet to wake more than a year after he was set upon in Pattaya

 

UK – Adam Pickles a former teacher of St Regents  left in a coma after he was brutally assaulted in Thailand is to return to Yorkshire this week as his parents prepare to face his alleged attacker again in court.

Adam Pickles, from Keighley, has yet to wake more than a year after he was set upon in Pattaya, where he lived and taught English.

The father-of-one, 41, is being transferred to Woodlands Respite Care Centre in York on Thursday to continue his rehabilitation after six months at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability in London.

Sean Henry Tinsley, who is accused of their son’s attempted murder.

It will mean his parents, Adele and Andrew, of Thorner, Leeds, and his friends in the north can visit more often, which it is hoped will help to improve his responses.

Mrs Pickles said he had opened an eye and appeared to focus for the first time on Friday, the day before her birthday, adding: “He gave me the biggest smile. It was the best present I could have wished for.”

She and her husband will fly to Thailand next month for the trial of Wolverhampton ex-pat Sean Henry Tinsley, who is accused of their son’s attempted murder.

They will also visit Adam’s son Ben, who lives with his mother Pafan, while they are there.

“We’re not looking forward to going back to court but we’ve got to try and get justice for Adam and our grandson,” said Mrs Pickles.

Fundraising towards legal costs and Adam’s care will continue when his father’s band, John’s Followers, reforms after 45 years for a charity gig at New Keighley Variety Club next Saturday.

Two members of the band, who toured Europe and released a single in the sixties, have flown from New Zealand for the reunion. The free gig starts at 7.30pm with opportunities to donate on the night