A PENSIONER has spoken of the night three thugs left him for dead after burgling his home and brutally attacking him with a sledgehammer and baseball bat.

Former councillor Ken Sargeant, 73, was knocked unconscious as he fought off intruders Rikki Georgiou, 24, Justin Weirich, 26, and DarrenWhite, 24, at his Jaywick bungalow.

The trio admitted aggravated burglary when they appeared in court on Friday.

They also admitted stabbing a man in the neck outside a Brightlingsea pub earlier the same day.

The judge at Chelmsford Crown Court told them to expect substantial jail terms when they return for sentencing later this year.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Sargeant said he had been getting ready for bed in the early hours of October 15, 2014, when he spotted a man in his neighbour’s garden.

He recalled: “I looked out to see who it was. I was just trying to protect my property.

“I might be 73, but you’d have to be fit to sort me out.

“Unbeknown to me, there were two others and they were tooled up.

“They were having a go at me straight away with a sledgehammer and a baseball bat.

“They battered me to the ground and left me here to die. There was blood all over the kitchen.”

The raiders then helped themselves to £2,000 of Mr Sargeant’s property as he lay unconscious on the floor, before making off.

Mr Sargeant came round after about 15 minutes and phoned for help.

He was taken to hospital, where he spent three weeks being treated for multiple facial injuries and a torn spleen.

A few hours before the vicious assault, Georgiou, Weirich and White had attacked William Hay, 27, outside the Brewers Arms pub in Brightlingsea.

He was stabbed in the neck and fled, stumbling across the road to the Kings Head pub, in Ladysmith Avenue, before being taken to hospital.

The gang then drove to Jaywick and burgled former Tendring councillor Mr Sargeant’s home.

Georgiou, of Alvis Avenue, Jaywick, White, of Mendlesham Close, Clacton, and Weirich, of Starfield Road, Shepherds Bush, west London, admitted the attack on Mr Sargeant.

They had admitted wounding Mr Hay with intent to cause him grievous bodily harmat an earlier hearing.

Remanding all three in custody, Judge Christopher Ball QC told them they were facing lengthy jail terms.

  • A fourth man is due to stand trail next month on the same charges.