An elderly pensioner was today being treated in hospital with a suspected broken leg after thugs broke into his home and assaulted him.
The 75-year-old man, attacked by up to four men in north Belfast yesterday evening, only managed to raise the alarm at 9am this morning.
The attackers forced their way into the pensioner's Carrick Hill home, close to North Queen Street in the city centre, at around 6pm.
They brutally assaulted the man and ransacked the house looking for cash and valuables for up to 30 minutes, police said.
After the thugs made off on foot with a sum of money the man lay suffering overnight and was only able to alert police shortly after 9am, some 15 hours after his ordeal began.
He was taken to a nearby hospital where he is being treated for a suspected broken leg and other injuries.
One of the suspects is described as of medium height and build, with fair hair and a gaunt face with a pale complexion.
An accomplice is described as being 6ft tall. Both suspects wore dark coloured clothes, baseball caps and had scarves covering their faces.
Detectives appealing for information are particularly keen to hear from anyone who knows a male who sustained a head injury in suspicious circumstances.
It is believed the elderly victim may have cut one of the men around the temple while defending himself during the assault.