A man who needed five operations after being beaten up by thugs is ready to leave hospital.

Richard Darnell had his jaw and pelvis smashed and one leg broken in three places during the sustained beating by three men at his home in Hinckley.

The 36-year-old suffered shoulder and collar bone injuries and had his right eye partially knocked from its socket during the onslaught.

A month after the attack, he is preparing to leave hospital.

Mr Darnell still needs a wheelchair to get around. He will be moving to a new flat, away from the scene of the assault, in Palmer Road, where he had lived for nine years.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council arranged for the move so he does not have to face the horror of what happened at his old home or risk the attackers coming back.

Mr Darnell has not yet been able to speak about his ordeal but his mother, June Giddings described the horror of seeing him in University Hospital, Coventry.

She said: "For the first few days he was in, we didn't know he was there.

"He wouldn't tell the hospital staff where we lived because he knew I had bad health and a heart problem and he didn't want me upset.

"Even that battered, that's the way he is.

"I couldn't believe it. Why would anyone want to beat Richard up? He is harmless.

"He isn't a vicious man, he is a peace-maker.

"When I went to see him, the room just spun. I thought 'that can't be my Richard'.

"If he had been run over by a bus he wouldn't have looked so bad."

The attack happened at about 4.50pm on Sunday, August 8.

June said she understood the attackers had been riding motorbikes or mopeds in a small car park near his home for some hours when Richard eventually called down to them to stop the noise. His door was ajar and, after hearing noises, he went to it, only to be set upon by the thugs.

June, a former psychiatric nurse, from Burbage, said Richard was about 6ft 2in, did weight training and ate healthily.

She said: "If he hadn't been strong and strong minded as well I am sure he would have died."

The family is keen that police catch the people responsible.

Officers said three men have been arrested in connection with the attack and released on bail.

Detective Constable John Borlase appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

He said: "I have been going door to door but I still believe someone has witnessed the attack and not come forward.

"It happened on a Sunday afternoon on an estate so you would have thought someone would have seen it."

Anyone who can help should contact Det Con John Borlase on 0116 222 2222 .