A DARFIELD pensioner who suffered sickening facial injuries in a vicious and unprovoked attack has spoken of the horrific events.

Jerry Keightley was walking home from an evening out at around 12.30am on Sunday when a man wearing a hood came at him with a screwdriver, demanding cash.

When the 64-year-old tried to fight back, he was stabbed seven times in the face with the nine-inch long weapon, just yards from his home on Inkerman Road.

More than 30 stitches were needed to patch his face up and he also suffered a broken nose and cheekbone.

Jerry said: “He struck me a couple of times in the face before I could react. I hit with a bag I was carrying and we started struggling.

“He was shoving me backwards and forwards, and we went through a garden fence and I ended up on my back.

“I gave him the £35 in my pocket, but he said he wanted more.

“He was hitting me with one hand, because I wasn’t letting go of the screwdriver in the other. “Eventually, he ran off down Inkerman Road when a garden light came on.”

Jerry added that he was determined not to let the attack affect his life.

“I feel a lot of relief that I was not blinded or more seriously injured, but I still keep feeling dizzy, and I just hope it hasn’t affected my brain permanently.”