The daughter of James Brown has spoken out for the first time as his killer awaits sentencing for his latest crime.

Lucy Brown, who was aged 10 when her father was slain by screwdriver-wielding teenager Martin Hall, said her family has never been the same since the brutal killing.

As we reported last week, Hall has been back in court for a violent 20-minute assault in Main Street, Alexandria, just 48 hours after he was released early from prison.

Politicians said the case raised further questions about the need to end the decades old automatic early release policy.

In 2006, Hall confessed to stabbing James, 47, with a screwdriver in a row over broken windows. He left James’s naked and blood-stained body in his Kirkpatrick Crescent home in Alexandria.

James Sutherland Brown, known as Jimmy, left behind two daughters, aged 19 and 10, along with close nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

He was born in Balloch but moved to Morecambe in Lancashire where he had younger daughter Lucy. He returned north to look after his mum when his father died.

Not long before he was killed, he took in 19-year-old Hall, but was unaware that the teen would eventually turn on him.

Hall was locked up for just six years and nine months for the slaying.

Lucy, now aged 23, last week told the Reporter: “Our family feel his loss every day. Dad was a man of character and a character that will never be replaced.

“While Dad was many things in life, he loved his family above all.

“He was a man full of life and never grew up.

“He was a great man and a loyal friend to many where he lived and from his life in Morecambe, Lancashire.

“He was a keen fisherman and hunter and spent many of his days with his dad and family on Loch Lomond.

“It was his kindness that led to Hall living with him.

“He did enjoy a drink and walking his father’s dog Patch on the fields.

“Dad was the last of the Brown family to live in Kirkpatrick Crescent, and with his death, our family split apart.

“We have been left to rebuild a smaller family unit.”

Read more: Brute smashed a pot over man's head

Jimmy had been branded a “drug dealer” by Hall’s defence QC back in 2006, an attack that still hurts the family.

They insist his last drugs arrest was 10 years prior to his death. Even if he used drugs, that shouldn’t have allowed his killer to have a lighter sentence.

But Lucy said Hall got off lightly as a result of her dad’s past.

She said: “Hall took my childhood. I spent more than 10 years not being able to cope with the fact Dad got taken away from us and the circumstances.

“It’s not something I think anyone can get over or live with.

“It stopped my sister and my family from being in contact with me and it meant the loss to a whole side of my family.

“His friend who found him has been affected for the rest of his life and still has nightmares from it.

“Hall got such a short sentence because of my Dad’s criminal history.

“However, he continues to commit some horrible crimes and the worst part for the family is that Dad’s death never changed Hall’s life.

“He never served more than three years at the age of 19. The man is 31 years old and still being done for crimes he’s committing while under the watchful eye of the police for the sentence in 2006.

“Hall didn’t just take my father’s life and the rest of my family’s, he took my son’s grandpa and my sister’s dad. He left a family devastated.”