A VULNERABLE man was left ‘unrecognisable’ after being brutally attacked twice on two consecutive nights.

Andrew Titley, known to friends as ‘Chig’, was hospitalised with broken ribs, missing teeth and cuts and bruises to his face after the attacks police said were unprovoked.

The 50-year-old who has had five heart attacks in the last 10 years is described by his daughter Caley Titley as ‘weak and vulnerable’.

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Community leaders have branded the attack as ‘vicious’ and hoped those responsible would be brought to justice.

At 2am on Saturday, on his way home from a night out with friends, he was punched by two teenagers who mugged him for loose change and also took his heart monitor.

Less than 24 hours later Mr Titley, of Albert Road, Colne, was attacked again and this time was subjected to a savage beating, with footprint marks left on his cheek from the attack.

The grandfather-of-four managed to get himself home but was unable to call family as he had no credit on his mobile phone and was discovered by his daughter later on Sunday morning.

Miss Titley, 25, said her dad looked like the ‘elephant man’ covered in blood.

The care assistant, said: “My dad is a very popular man. He’s lived in Colne all of his 50 years. He’s a really loveable character, everyone likes him.

“He’s had five heart attacks and two stroked which have caused some lasting damage. He has speech and memory problems already and difficulty in his his arms from mild paralysis. He’s weak and vulnerable already. He couldn’t defend himself.”

Mr Titley left the Lord Rodney pub at around 2am on Saturday morning and was approached by two boys in their late teens who asked him for a light. He went to get the lighter out of his pocket but was then punched and mugged.

However it was the attack as he walked home from Colne town centre in the early hours of Sunday morning that did the most damage.

The mum-of-four said she fears the attack with cause another heart attack.

She said: “I came round on Sunday and thought it was unusual that his door was unlocked. I walked into the house with my two young daughters and there was blood smeared along the walls where he must have stumbled up to bed.

“I followed the blood and found him in bed. His clothes were covered in blood. He looked like the elephant man. He was unrecognisable. His eyes were swollen shut. There was blood everywhere.

“I thought he was dead and started screaming and so did my children.

“He had footprints on his cheek from the attack. The cuts on his face were so deep they looked like burns. They could have killed him. It could have set off another heart attack.”

Mr Titley, who has also suffered two strokes in the past decade is now back at home recovering after being released from Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Miss Titley said: “”He’s recovering at home now. and getting some rest. It’s going to take a while for him to get back on his feet.

“The police have taken his clothes for forensics. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. It was a brutal attack. There was no need for it at all. No one deserves that.

“He’s in a lot of pain. It hurts when he breathes and he keeps flinching when he moves.”

Mr Titley, who had to give up his job as a groundworker following his health problems, can’t remember anything about the attack, but said he had been to the Duke of Lancaster and the Jovial Hatters.

Miss Titley said: “My children don’t want to go and see him because they are scared of how he looks. They thought that grandad was dead. It’s really traumatised them.”

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “This is an horrific attack.

“Nobody wants to see this happen, especially in their town. It is rare in Colne and hopefully the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

Colne Cllr Dorothy Lord added: “I’ve seen the pictures and this is just horrendous, I hope whoever carried out the attack is brought to justice.

“Why somebody would want to carry out such a vicious attack is beyond me, it’s awful.

“We don’t want this kind of thing happening in Colne and thankfully it doesn’t happen very often, this is just a one off.

“I hope Andrew recovers quickly from this horrific attack.”

A police spokeswoman said: “We are investigating the incident and would urge anyone that may have witnessed anything or has any information to call 101.”