He was admitted to King’s College Hospital, south London, where he was put on an assessment ward with his attacker – a drunk and unstable man. The brute pushed Mr Pattinson out of bed, kicked him twice and pulled the feeding tube from his hand. Mr Pattinson’s relatives have now spoken out after Scotland Yard claimed they cannot arrest the attacker themselves and blocked the family’s bid for a private prosecution.
Yard legal chiefs refused to pass on the assailant’s name unless the Pattinsons obtained a court order costing up to £100,000.
But Mr Pattinson’s businessman son Sam said yesterday that they are determined to get redress for his dad’s ordeal two years ago.
He said: “We’ve come to the Express because we would like justice for dad and other people who were attacked.
“He was hurt and he was terrified. He’s a tax-paying man and an elderly citizen, and we’re having to pay the police to get someone arrested.”
Retired interior designer Mr Pattinson, once a police volunteer who won a community service award, described his trauma at the time.
He told police: “[The attacker] came over and pushed me out of bed on to the floor.
‘He stood laughing staring “He then kicked me at least twice in the legs. I did try to push him away but he was too strong. After that he stood over me, laughing and staring at me.”
Sam, 52, said the burly stranger, in his 30s, also shoved a nurse to the floor and kicked his father in the back.
Eventually, security arrived and Mr Pattinson’s attacker was sedated. Police said they could not arrest the suspect because medical staff had ruled that he was “without capacity” – meaning he could not be held responsible for his actions. But they did investigate.
The family tried for a private prosecution and received the hospital’s internal report, saying the attacker had a history of alcohol withdrawal seizure.
The Pattinsons needed the attacker’s name but the Met said it “will not disclose the data in the absence of a court order”.
This would cost up to £100,000.
Mr Pattinson’s wife Barbara, 81, said: “How many others have been met with the same stone wall?”
King’s College Hospital offered “sincere apologies”.
