A teenager has taken his first steps after he was left in a coma after being punched.

Sixteen-year-old Mo Bourner has returned to Sussex for the first time since being savagely attacked.

Mo nearly died after being knocked to the ground with one punch.

His parents Peter Bourner and Rahma Adan were told to expect the worst when Mo suffered 90% brain damage in the attack.

But the battling teenager has now managed to walk again and return home to Hastings for the first time since the attack at the end of October last year.

His father, who lives in Hooe, near Bexhill, said: “Mo is now taking a few steps but has still got a long way to go with everything.

“He has done so well. He is having physiotherapy and has started writing poetry.

“He came to Hastings and saw people.

“We are so grateful to people for raising money for him. We need to find out the best sort of wheelchair for him and then we will get it.”

He has been able to visit Hastings’ Jack-in-the-Green festival, where he saw many of his friends for the first time in months.

Friends have helped raise £10,000 for Mo, which will be spent on a state-of-the-art wheelchair.

Lou Murphy, landlady of the Red Lion pub in Hooe, who has been raising money, said: “The money will certainly be able to make a good difference to Mo in his future and dealing with the huge changes in his life that he now has to deal with.”

Mo suffered a serious head injury after being punched as he walked home from a night out with friends in De La Warr Parade, Hastings, in October.

Soldier Ashley Dacosta, 20, who used to live in Bexhill but is based at barracks in Windsor, Berkshire, denies racially aggravated grievous bodily harm.

He is due to stand trial on July 16.