A MAN left for dead outside his home after being attacked by a thug with a baseball bat is still in a critical condition in hospital.

Tony Miln, 40, an unemployed welder, was discovered in a pool of blood in the street near flats in Newark Court in Gun Lane, Strood, on Saturday night. He had suffered serious multiple head injuries.

Mr Miln, who lives alone, is still on a life-support machine at a specialist hospital at Haywards Heath in West Sussex. His attacker pulled up leapt from his white car wielding the bat at about 9.10pm on Saturday. The attacker, aged between 20 and 30, made his getaway in the vehicle, believed to be a white Vauxhall Astra or Cavalier after reversing down Brompton Lane without any lights on.

Now officers are desperate to piece together Mr Miln's movements earlier that day and any incident which could have led to the serious assault. Det Chief Insp Colin Murray, leading the hunt, said: "This was no ordinary Saturday night punch-up. This would appear to be a callous, unprovoked attack in which the victim could easily have died at the scene. Indeed, it is so serious that we are treating it as if it were a murder inquiry."

Mr Murray added that while witnesses had come forward they needed to know if he had been drinking at a local pub, whom he had met or if he had been in a fight beforehand.

He said: "We know what took place, but we don't know why. At the moment it would seem unprovoked. There was not a fight which broke out before he was attacked with the baseball bat. But motiveless attacks are rare. We think he may have been drinking, but he wasn't drunk."

Mr Miln has lived in the flats for several years but does not go out much and has few friends, making the attack all the more baffling.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police incident room on 01634 385062 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. Calls will be treated in strict confidence.