A MAN beaten up and left for dead has returned to Medway after four weeks in an intensive care unit in West Sussex.

Tony Miln, 40, was attacked outside his flat in Strood by a man wielding a baseball bat, after spending the early part of the evening in local pubs. The unemployed welder lived alone in Newark Court flats and was found in a pool of blood just after 9pm on Saturday, February 2.

He was taken to the intensive care unit of the Haywards Heath Hospital where his condition was described as critical but stable. He is now conscious and breathing for himself at Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital. Police want people with any information to come forward.

They believe it to have been an unprovoked attack, and had initially been treating it as a murder inquiry with up to 30 officers assigned to the case. They want to trace the car used in the attack and the identity of the driver.

The driver, believed to be aged between 20 and 30, is known to have reversed up Brompton Lane without any lights on after carrying out the attack. Police think this unusual getaway may mean the driver knew the local roads.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police incident room on 01634 385062 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.