The prospect of leaving hospital and returning to the home where he was attacked brings tears to the eyes of Patrick Bourke.

The pensioner was kicked down a flight of stairs by a burglar who broke into his Brighton home as he and his wife enjoyed a quiet afternoon together.

As he made his getaway, the intruder kicked Mr Bourke again as the elderly man lay helpless in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

The grandfather-of-two received fractured ribs and bruising and remains in the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, where he is making a slow recovery.

Mr Bourke is keen to return home to be with his wife Alice, 75, but is apprehensive about how he may feel on his return.

The 71-year-old said: "I don't like my wife being there without me but I won't know how I'll feel about being in the house until I get there.

"We were robbed some years ago when we lived in Rottingdean but it was nothing like this.

"It's bad enough to get robbed when you're not at home but to do it when we were in the house, in broad daylight, is a bit of a cheek."

Police believe the burglar, who is aged about 18, may be the man behind a string of attacks on elderly people in their homes in Brighton.

In the latest attack, the couple were in the basement of their three-storey home on February 12 when Mr Bourke decided to go upstairs to check if the evening copy of The Argus had arrived.

He heard a noise on the top floor, made his way upstairs to investigate and saw a man emerging from the bedroom.

The former BT worker said: "This thing came out of our room and, before I knew it, he had kicked me hard in the stomach and knocked me over. I tumbled down the stairs.

"I must have landed just in front of the front door and he came down after me and gave me another kick to get me out of the way.

"I was in a lot of pain but I was still conscious and managed to grab my wife's walking stick which was hanging on the stairs. I banged it on the floor and she heard.

"By then he had gone and my wife didn't know what had happened to me. I think she thought I'd had a heart attack because I've had a couple of those."

The burglar took jewellery and tablets belonging to Mrs Bourke.

Any information to Brighton police on 0845 6070999.