A 71-YEAR-OLD man who suffers from a serious heart condition was attacked by a 12-year-old who wound a hosepipe around his neck and began whipping him with it.

Danny Kay, of Ivinson Road, Darwen, was assaulted after he retrieved the pipe which had been attached to the waste outlet pipe of his council home on the St James's estate by a youth.

The after-dark incident is the latest in a series on the troubled estate the residents have re-named the Bronx. Yesterday we told how the Baker family, who live two doors away from Mr Kay, had been forced to live in darkness for almost two years when the windows of their home were repeatedly smashed and had to be boarded up.

In the latest attack the pensioner was assaulted by the boy in front of friends and neighbours.

He said: "The boy took the pipe and wrapped it around my neck and then he was trying to hit me with the length of the pipe.

"I wasn't hurt, but I was very shaken up."

Mr Kay, who suffered his third heart attack three months ago, had to spend the day in bed recovering from his ordeal.

His wife Mary said: "We know who did this and I have been down to the housing office to make an official nuisance complaint. We can't live like this any more."

A spokesman for Darwen police said the matter was being investigated.

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