Angus Gallagher left for dead after he was beaten by a man he had stopped to help

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WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
Angus Gallagher stopped to help man lying on his back at petrol station
But once Brian Ramsay was on his feet he brutally attacked him in street
Young mechanic left with fractured skull and ribs and 3 broken fingers
18-year-old also needed titanium plate to support his damaged right eye
Mechanic left paranoid and afraid to leave his home near Edinburgh
Ramsay, 25 - who continued assault indoors - jailed for just 18 months

Published: 10:27 EST, 6 February 2015 | Updated: 15:17 EST, 6 February 2015

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An 18-year-old Good Samaritan has told how a man he tried to help beat him so savagely his own mother thought he was dead.

Angus Gallagher had 13 skull fractures, three broken fingers, fractured ribs and eardrum damage and needed a titanium plate behind his right eye after the assault by 25-year-old Brian Ramsay.

His family reacted with fury today as Ramsay, who dragged the teenager to his house to continue his attack, was jailed for 18 months - and he could be free in just six.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Injuries: Good Samaritan Angus Gallagher (left) had 13 skull fractures, three broken fingers, fractured ribs and eardrum damage and needed a titanium plate behind his eye after an assault by Brian Ramsay (right)

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the teenager, who restores classic cars for a living, was unable to work for three months and is now afraid to leave his home in Newtongrange, Midlothian.

He was walking home from a night out with friends in nearby Gorebridge in October when he discovered Ramsay lying on his back in a petrol station forecourt.

The young mechanic helped him to his feet, took him to a shop to get some food and then helped him across the road - but then Ramsay unexpectedly turned on him.

He subjected Angus to a brutal and sustained assault in the street before dragging him to a nearby house where he attacked him again.

Appalling: A selfie which the teenager took to show the damage immediately after the beating

Shocked neighbours heard the attack and called police, who found the teenager lying unconscious in the street.

'He just turned on me,' said Mr Gallagher. 'My mind went a bit blank and all I thought was "I should protect myself as much as I can".

'He must have realised what he had done because he dragged me to his house to get me cleaned up. Then he hit me again in the garden and I have no recollection after that.'

The teenager spent a week in hospital, where doctors discovered he had suffered such bad damage to his right eye that he had to have a titanium plate implanted behind his eyebrow.

The youngest of three boys, he woke up in a hospital bed disorientated and disfigured.

'I was really confused when I woke up,' he said. 'I couldn't open my eyes as they were swollen shut.

'It has changed everything. You get all paranoid. I try to avoid going out on my own at night now. It would definitely make me think twice about helping somebody now.'

Mr Gallagher's family attacked Ramsay's sentence after he was jailed for 18 months yesterday after admitting assault causing severe injuries, permanent disfigurement and danger of life.

Because the 25-year-old had already been in custody since October 27, he could be free in fewer than six months.

Mr Gallagher's parents Amanda, 53, and Henry, 56, branded the sentence 'disgusting' and called for better treatment of victims.

'He just turned on me,' said Mr Gallagher, who spent a week in hospital (pictured). 'My mind went a bit blank and all I thought was "I should protect myself as much as I can"... I have no recollection after that'

Crime scene: The petrol station where the mechanic said he helped his attacker to his feet on a night out

Mrs Gallagher said: 'My husband and I are totally shocked and think it's disgusting.

'I don't know the definition of a long time but 18 months doesn't seem to be very long. It's not justice. He was only helping someone and this was his reward.'

When police came to their door in the middle of the night, Mrs Gallagher said she thought her son was dead.

She added: 'When we were taken to the resuscitation unit where Angus was, my husband couldn't walk through the door.

'He just gripped my arm and said 'My God, what have they done to my boy'. I couldn't recognise him.

Afraid: The 18-year-old has been left nervous about leaving his home in Newtongrange, Midlothian

'His head was about five times the size it should have been. He was covered in blood.

'The police photographer who came along said she had never seen such damage before in her life.

'That's why we are so upset with what we heard in court.'

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced this week that serious offenders will no longer be automatically released after two-thirds of their sentences, but the rules do not apply to shorter jail terms.

Conservative councillor Cameron Rose, a former police officer, suggested prosecutors should appeal against the sentence for being too lenient.

'It's absolutely appalling', he told MailOnline. 'It adds to the feeling that justice hasn't been done, and we know that for the culprit 18 months doesn't mean 18 months.

'It's time for the Scottish government to bring transparency to the justice system to make a sentence mean what it says.

'The more I see of the detail of this case the more I think the Crown Office should be appealing the sentence.'