War hero, 98, is beaten up in his home for a £20 TV
A WAR hero aged 98 was left fighting for his life after robbers beat him up in his own home before stealing his £20 television. Peter Gouldstone was punched in the face and dragged across his bedroom floor in another shocking attack in Wild West Britain.
Detectives believe he would have died if a neighbour had not spotted an open garage door and alerted his son Simon the following morning.
His horrified children yesterday released a picture of their father in hospital where he is being treated for brain bleeds.
Mr Gouldstone served as a corporal in the Royal Corps of Signals during the Second World War and was recognised by George VI for his ‘gallant and distinguished service’.
He signed up in 1940 at the age of 20 and saw action at the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944, which claimed 75,000 casualties.
His son Simon, a retired civil servant, said he is ‘lost for words in terms of man’s inhumanity to man’, adding: ‘I don’t know how the burglars can live with themselves. He is a 98-year-old man, for God’s sake. It’s absolutely appalling. The sooner they are locked up the better.’
Felicity Allen, of the Royal British Legion, said: ‘Peter served to give us the lives we enjoy today. It’s disgusting what happened to that poor man – for a 98-year-old to be attacked in that way, it is beyond disgraceful.’
Mr Gouldstone, who worked as a Post Office telecoms engineer until about 1980, has lived in his terraced house in Enfield, north London, for more than 60 years.
Described as a ‘gentle soul’, he was married to his wife Joan for 65 years until her death in 2013, raising a son and a daughter.
Police believe the burglars broke into his home on the evening of November 5 when Mr Gouldstone was in his bedroom. They ransacked the house before leaving with items including a ten-yearold 26in Panasonic TV – a model that sells on eBay for just £20.
Detectives are baffled at the ‘completely excessive’ levels of violence used against the pensioner and are considering whether the thieves thought he had money hidden in the house.
Mr Gouldstone Jnr, 67, arrived at the house the following morning and found his gravely ill father on the bedroom floor. He called 999 and paramedics took Mr Gouldstone to an East London hospital where he is being treated in a neurological unit.
Detective Inspector Paul Ridley said Mr Gouldstone has an injury to the back of his head suggesting he was hit with a blunt instrument or banged himself on the floor after being punched. He added: ‘This was a brutal and senseless attack on a vulnerable pensioner. He was left helpless and seriously injured all alone. If this member of the public had not intervened, it’s almost certain Mr Gouldstone would have succumbed to his injuries.’ No arrests have been made. Violent crime has soared from 778,000 offences to 1.4million since 2015 – the highest figure since records began in 2002.
‘It is beyond disgraceful’