The family of a security officer brutally attacked outside a court today paid tribute to her as she lay critically injured in hospital.

Lorraine Barwell, 54, was assaulted in the courtyard inside Blackfriars crown court on Monday.

Doctors have said she will not survive, and her family are understood to have given permission for her life support machine to be turned off.

The Serco guard was kicked and stamped on as she transferred prisoners to a jail van. Her son Jason, 34, told the Sun: “Our lives have been ripped apart.” Her niece, Hannah Hogan wrote on Facebook: “Rest in peace auntie Lorraine, sweet dreams.”

Humphrey Burke, 22, appeared at Camberwell Green magistrates’ court on Monday, charged with GBH. A new charge of murder or manslaughter could now be brought against him.