A mother whose son was severely brain damaged when he was hit by a nightclub bouncer, is to deliver a petition to Downing Street demanding a national register for doormen - and women.

Paul Steele, 30, was in a coma for nearly four months after an unprovoked attack by a bouncer at a nightclub in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

His mother June says Paul's life has been destroyed by the attack, he can hardly feed himself, and cannot play with his three-year-old daughter.

"Paul was very outgoing, he enjoyed a good laugh, always had a big smile on his face, he was just a happy-go-lucky person. He was just brilliant and now it's so different," she says.

Paul attacker, Glen Soames, was sentenced to four years in jail. He already had a conviction for manslaughter.

"I've actually seen a video tape of the events that happened. In the background you saw Paul just walking round the corner and just about to stand on the step," adds his mother.

"As Paul stood up on the step there was this almighty punch and the punch was with such force that Paul's brain turned round in his skull which caused brain damage."

Her campaign to persuade the government to introduce legislation to stop convicted criminals being employed as doormen is backed by Nigel Jones MP.

As many as six people may have been killed by nightclub doormen, but standards in the industry are improving.

Five percent of all nightclub doormen are now women.

Michaela Ellison, who works at a Liverpool nightclub, said the job's image had changed from that of the "big meatheads".

"You've got to be very diplomatic to work on the door because there's no point going in fist first because it doesn't achieve anything and your club gets a bad reputation.

"You need patience, a lot of it, you need to be quite vigilant, and you've got to be very diplomatic because you've got to be able to talk situations down from heated to very calm."
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