A former regional press journalist who almost died after he was viciously attacked while trying to help a car crash victim, has called for his attacker to be given compulsory therapy of between five and ten years.

Former Scunthorpe Telegraph news editor Russell Ward was left with a double fracture to his skull and severe brusing to his brain – and doctors told him just one more blow to the head would have killed him.

His wife and neighbour were also injured, and his attacker pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of grievous bodily harm.

Sentencing is expected this week and the attacker has been warned that he could face custody – but Russell has spoken out and said that therapy, not prison, is the best option.

Now a journalist for BBC Radio Newcastle, he told the Sunderland Echo that the ordeal had been a “living hell”.

He said: “He was calm and calculated. If he’d had a knife, I’m sure he would have killed me.

“What has happened has completely changed the way we look at life. How this man can come into our lives and create so much havoc and destruction, when all we wanted to do was to help him, is beyond belief.

“He was so cold. There was no care in his eyes, but he seemed fully in control and knew exactly what he was doing.

“Forget prison. Prison is only going to make him feel better about himself – he’ll just meet more idiots like him. A person like this needs between five and ten years of compulsory therapy.”