THE victim of an unprovoked attack that left him in a coma will spend Christmas with his family.

Anthony Lansbury, 51, was attacked in Melrosegate, York, earlier this year, and doctors had to remove part of his skull to relieve pressure on his brain caused by a blood clot.

He was unconscious for several days, and Mr Lansbury’s sister, Kim Farrar, said his condition was still improving but his injuries had left him without a sense of smell, barely able to taste, and with “terrible vision” and short-term memory loss.

Mrs Farrar said: “Once we’ve spoken to him, if I mention something to him he will forget what I’ve said. Other than that he’s doing much better then we thought he would.

“They have said he will be in until Christmas at least. He wants to be home but it’s not up to him to say whether he’s fit enough or not, but things are looking up. He can walk but not too far and isn’t good on his legs. His speech is a bit better, not back to normal, but he doesn’t slur like he did at the beginning.”

Mrs Farrar said her brother could remember nothing from the attack, which happened in the early hours of September 5, and he was glad to be much closer to his family at Woodlands neurological rehabilitation centre in Thief Lane, rather than Hull Royal Infirmary and York Hospital, where he had been previously.

She said: “He doesn’t remember a thing from the night or being in hospital at Hull or coming back to York.

The last thing he remembers is leaving John’s that morning. We don’t want him to remember that [the attack].

“He’s getting very fed up of being inside and keeps mentioning about the court case – he’s concerned about that. He’s frightenend in case they do it again. At one point he was on about leaving York but we said we would look after him as a family. We can bring him out for a day every week and take him out or bring him home to ours and it gets him out.”

Mrs Farrar thanked everyone who had supported Mr Lansbury and their family since the attack, adding: “We’ve had lots and lots of support from people it’s been fantastic really, it helped keep us going.

“He’s going to be with John, his brother, on Christmas Day and to mine and Mark’s on Boxing Day. We’re really looking forward to that and hopefully 2014 will be a better year.”

• William Wilson Allan, 18, of Kempton Close in Acomb, has admitted the attack and is due to be sentenced next month.