A PENSIONER attacked by a one-legged man believed he was going to die when he was repeatedly hit with a crutch.

David Everard, 72, was attacked by Terence Exelby on Acomb Green in August last year and suffered multiple injuries.

Exelby pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm as he was about to stand trial, and was handed a 20-week prison sentence suspended for two years at York Crown Court.

But Mr Everard, from Danebury Drive, Acomb, has spoken out after the hearing and said the attack left him suffering flashbacks.

He said: “I was stood with my dog ready to cross York Road when he thrust his stick into me.

“The first blow came into my stomach then he started hitting me all over my body with his crutch.

“I thought he was going to kill me, so I was screaming get him off, get him off.

“A car eventually stopped and someone got out, but he didn’t know what to do.”

Mr Everard required hospital treatment after the attack, which resulted in him losing a front tooth and suffering a bloody nose, and bruised ribs and knees.

He added: “I didn’t want to harm him so I just thought I would lower him to the floor.

“I still get flashbacks and it’s on my mind all the time. I can’t get what he did to me out of my mind.”

The court heard there had been no problems between the two since Exelby’s arrest and release.

Last January Exelby was jailed for six months for affray and possessing and offensive weapon in public.