The former officer now cannot read, write or understand numbers, has difficulty communicating and cannot look after himself, York Crown Court heard.
Attackers Oliver Ward and Nathan Weston celebrated as the victim lay prone and unconscious on the ground at St Saviourgate taxi rank, before leaving the scene, said Zarreen Alam-Cheetham, prosecuting.
The ex-policeman turned personal fitness trainer was rushed to hospital, put in an induced coma, and underwent two emergency operations to relieve bleeding on the brain and protect his airways.
He had been trying to get a taxi for a friend who had become medically ill during a night out and who needed to get home.
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More than half of the assaults, public order offences and other violent crimes recorded in York city centre in 2023-4 were thought to involve alcohol, according to police data.
