The man who bludgeoned a kindly 76-year-old pensioner with a poker and potato masher was this morning sentenced to life in prison.

Thug Mariusz Dobkowski, 30, fled to Belgium after the vicious attack after leaving his victim for dead after the savage beating.

Sentencing him at Canterbury Crown Court, Judge Adele Williams said: "You intended to kill him. You subjected him to a devastating brutal attack. You showed him no mercy."

Dobkowski will have to serve a minimum term of 12 years before he is eligible for parole.

Ex-Merchant Navy sailor Kenneth Seymour was battered at his home in Rutland Avenue in Margate – and left with fractures of the nose, head and back.

Dobkowski then smashed the intercom and phone to prevent him calling for help, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court was told.

The victim has been left with a scar and now needs a walking stick to get about. He suffers from panic attacks and now wants to leave the flat which has been his home for years.

Dobkowski had pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of the pensioner who spent three weeks in intensive care but was convicted by the jury.

At his trial he tried to claim the reason for the attack was his victim had made a sexual advances towards him.

But police believe a gold chain which went missing during the attack was probably the real motive behind Dobkowski’s savagery.

After stealing the gold pendant, Dobkowski sold it and fled the country.

Prosecutor Martin Yale told the jury that after the attack, police released wanted photographs of Dobkowski, who had lived at three addresses in Thanet.

An European Arrest warrant was issued and in July last year he was arrested in Belgium and put on a plane for Heathrow Airport.

“Later that day he was charged and replied: ’I just want to say, I did not attempt to murder that man.’, “ he said.

Mr Yale said the “brutal attack” happened on December 14 2013 at Mr Seymour’s flat after the two had been seen in Margate.

“Mr Seymour enjoyed socialising in Margate and was regularly seen in the bars in the town. He was a very friendly man.

“He would often strike up conversations with others in the bars and was very generous in buying drinks.”

The prosecutor said the pension was seen at the Ruby Lounge and Oddfellows Club in Margate before being spotted at a bus stop in Cecil Square.

“He was waiting to catch the bus home. A short while later he was seen talking to another man.

“The Crown say that this was Dobkowski. CCTV footage showed the two getting on well.

“When they got off the bus, the two went to Mr Seymour’s flat where Dobrowski attacked him, “ it was claimed.

The prosecutor added: “An analysis of Mr Seymour’s injuries indicted he had been subjected to a sustained blunt force trauma assault.

“It seems likely that one of the weapons was a poker which had been used to strike the chest, back, face and most probably the head. A potato masher found at the flat was also used, “ he claimed.

The prosecutor told the jury: “The Crown says the ferocious nature of the attack and the fact Dobkowskismashed Mr Seymour’s landline telephone and intercom, so he had no means of summoning help, thus leaving him for dead means you can be sure Dobkowski’s intention was to kill Mr Seymour, “ he said.

A neighbour eventually heard Mr Seymour and summoned help and he was taken to hospital and treated for his injuries.

Inspector Richard Vickery, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "This was a brutal attack on an elderly gentleman who was incredibly fortunate not to have been killed by someone almost 50 years his junior.

"Instead of facing up to the consequences of his actions, Mariusz Dobkowski ran away to Belgium and tried to carry on with his life while his victim lay in a hospital bed recovering from a number of serious injuries.

"However, thanks to the tireless work of officers who were assisted by members of the local and Eastern European communities, Dobkowski was unable to hide for long.

"Let me assure you that those who choose to commit violent and cowardly acts such as this will be relentlessly pursued and brought to justice."

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