A cancer stricken mother woke up on Christmas Day to the news her son had been beaten to within an inch of his life – over a taxi ride home.

Adam Clibery was out celebrating with his friends when he was punched twice in the face by a total stranger – who knocked him out cold and left him for dead on the pavement.

His attacker, Lewis Ellis, laughed as friends tried to help the 25-year-old, who was hit so hard he suffered a brain haemorrhage and a fractured skull.

The aspiring personal trainer was left fighting for his life following the unprovoked attack in the early hours of December 25, 2013 – all because Ellis wanted the taxi he was getting in to.

Ellis, 21, threatened to glass his victim with a beer bottle if he got into the taxi before violently attacking him outside the Woodlands Pub in Ellesmere Port.

Today (September 5) Ellis, of Bridge Farm Cottages in Stoak, Chester, was jailed for three years during a hearing at Chester Crown Court.

His victim’s mum, who is suffering from cancer, woke-up on Christmas morning to uniformed police officers at her house – telling her that her son was fighting for his life.

In an emotional victim impact statement, read out in court, Mr Clibery said he held his attacker “personally responsible” for not being able to support his mother during her treatment.

“My mum only just completed a course of radio therapy for cancer treatment,” Mandy Nepal, prosecuting read from the victim's statement.

“She was woken by uniformed police in the early hours of Christmas morning and told to go to the hospital where I was being treated.

“She felt terrible. It does depress me, [I was in hospital], when I should have been supporting her during her treatment for cancer."

Mr Clibery, was in hospital for 10 days and was treated in three different hospitals for his injuries – including a fracture to his skull and bleeding on the brain.

He said he lost three stone and still suffered from sleepless nights, long term memory loss and dizzy spells following the attack.

His doctors say that his sense of smell may never return.

The court heard how Ellis threatened Mr Clibery as he was getting into a taxi with his friends, brandishing a glass bottle and shouting “get into that taxi and I will bottle you”.

When Mr Clibery replied “what?” he dropped the beer bottle and punched him twice in the face, so hard he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

One of his friends described the sickening moment he saw Mr Clibery’s body crumple as he hit the ground.

“He hits his head with a sickening thump,” said Ms Nepal, prosecuting.

“The defendant shouted “Ha, you’s have that”. The witness describes him as being extremely proud of what he had done.”

As people tried to help the unconscious 25-year-old, Ellis disappeared but he was arrested after he was pointed out to a police officer by a friend of the victim – when he was caught he said he had done nothing wrong.

Ellis, who has no previous dealings with the police, initially claimed he had attacked Mr Clibery in self defence but pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and carrying an offensive weapon during his plea and case management hearing on August 12.

He said he wasn’t drunk but had consumed five pints when he attacked Mr Clibery, saying he couldn’t really explain why he had attacked a stranger for a taxi.

Ellis was violently attacked by a friend of Mr Clibery, who took the law into his own hands, punching him in the face and breaking his eye socket, after being so upset by what he had done to his friend.

Matthew Smith, 25, of Willow Grove in Ellesmere Port, was jailed for 12 months for the vigilante attack in Club Xes nightclub in Whitby Road on January 25– an attack Mr Clibery said he did not approve of.

Jailing Ellis for three years, reduced from four due to his guilty plea, The Recorder of Chester Judge Elgan Edwards warned him he could have been facing a manslaughter charge, saying: “You so wanted that taxi you weren’t prepared to let anyone stand in your way.

“You were so pleased with yourself with what you had done, leaving others to look after him.

“It is the horrifying effect of this kind of behaviour, this drunken violence, causing in this case very serious injuries. You did not even have the courage to plead guilty right away.”