KAY GOODENOUGH believes her son Paul Bishop would not have died just weeks after being badly beaten if he had never met Adelle McColl.

The 73-year-old careworker from Didcot travelled to Birmingham to see McColl finally jailed for two-and-a-half years for the brutal assault on her son.

Last night she told the Oxford Mail the sentence was not long enough and that she believed McColl’s vicious attack led to his downward spiral and death two months later.

Mrs Goodenough, a mother of four, said McColl attacked Mr Bishop with a vodka bottle, smashing his face and head, leaving his face black and blue in his home in Northbourne Court, Didcot in March 2009.

Mr Bishop died from pneumonia, alcoholism and liver failure the day before his 50th birthday in the May.

But Mrs Goodenough said her son’s alcohol addiction spiralled further downwards following the attack and he became a recluse.

She said: “I blame her for the downward spiral that led to his death.

“After the attack he would not go out of the door. He used to stay in and drink more than he had before.”

McColl, an acquaintance of Mr Bishop, had been on the run from police. She did not turn up for her trial in June last year but was found guilty in her absence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

McColl, of Hamble Road in Didcot, was finally captured in October after an appeal by police in the Oxford Mail and on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme.

The 41-year-old was sentenced on Friday and Mrs Goodenough said: “It’s not really justice but it’s better than nothing. I feel she should have got more, but we have to accept it.

“I felt relief when she was caught, but then nothing happened for ages.

“She said in court she thought the sentence was too much because Paul’s injuries weren’t that bad. It beggars belief. But at least we have got closure now and some sort of justice for Paul.”

She added: “She showed no remorse. None at all.

“The last two years have been awful because we haven’t been able to close the door on this. It was in our minds all the time.

“I feel a great loss, but we have had to get on with it. I am a tough person. Her family are in Didcot and I want everyone to know what a horrible person she is.

“I don’t hate her, because it’s not in my nature. I don’t ever want to have to see her.”

Mrs Goodenough praised Dc Dave Edwards, of Didcot police, for helping the family.

She said: “He is a fine police officer. He went above and beyond his duty and he was kind all the way through. I want to thank him for helping us.”