This is the battered face of a defenceless 83-year-old Army veteran who was attacked in his own home by a masked thug who repeatedly hit him in the face with a HAMMER.
Ian McCann was preparing breakfast when he heard a crash at the back door of his home just after 7am on Sunday.
When the grandfather-of-two went to investigate he was confronted by a yob in a balaclava who had broken into his terraced house by smashing a window and picking the lock.
The robber then pushed Mr Mcann onto a sofa and ripped the telephone off the wall before using the cord to bind the pensioner’s hands together behind his back.
But Mr McCann’s ordeal was not over as the intruder demanded money for drugs and when he refused he hit him repeatedly with the hammer.
The sickening attack lasted up to an hour with Mr McCann being struck dozens of times in his face and head.
He then stole £60 in cash from his wallet, took Mr McCann’s debit card and demanded the pin number before threatening to kill his pet chihuahua dog, Double, if it did not stop barking.
The robber put two cushions over Mr McCann’s face and ran out of the house in Northampton through the back door.
Despite being battered Mr McCann, a divorcee who has two grown-up daughters, managed to get his hands free and knocked on his neighbour’s door called the police.
Mr McCann, a retired laboratory assistant and secretary of his local residents’ association, suffered severe bruising which covered half his face and neck.
Mr McCann, who lives alone, allowed pictures of his horrific injuries to be released in a bid to catch the vicious attacker.
Brave Mr McCann, who carried out his National Service in Hong Kong during 1949 and 1950, said: “I heard a crash and went I went into the kitchen he was standing there.
“He wanted money for drugs but when I didn’t give it to him he grabbed me and dragged me into the living room and threw me onto the sofa.
“He kept shouting at me ‘give me the money, give me the money’. I told him ‘no I will not’. I was angry someone had broken into my home and I was prepared to put up a fight.
“Then he went really mad and ripped out the telephone so I couldn’t use it and tied my hands up behind my back.
“He wanted the pin the number for the debit card and I gave him the wrong one, he kept hitting me over the head, he gave me a real shiner.
“He could have easily killed me with the hammer. I lost count of how many times he hit me. It was dozens.
“The whole thing lasted between 40 minutes to an hour. When I got to my neighbour they were a brick and called the police and ambulance.
“I was taken to Northampton General and had an x-ray to check for any broken bones but I didn’t have any.
“I am not going to let this get to me, he needs to be caught and put away for the maximum 14 years.
“The neighbours have been really shocked as this doesn’t happen around here.
“If this maniac is not caught soon he will do it again and the next time his victim might not be as lucky as me.”
