Man attacked after ticking off litter lout

A man of 66 was critically injured in an attack after he told a child not to drop rubbish in the street.

The man was punched in the head by a man who was with the child.

The attacker, the child and two women who had been walking with them, walked off leaving the pensioner bleeding in the street in Lewisham.

The victim is in a critical condition in hospital. The attack took place at 11.30am on Tuesday.

It follows a number of violent crimes in London against pensioners.

Earlier this month a 70-year-old man was stabbed and robbed as he walked home in north London.

The alleged attacker has since been charged with the murder of Turkish man Imam Ortac, 33, who was knifed 70 minutes later in the Tottenham area. In September a retired widower was left seriously injured after being assaulted during a regular stroll through Hounslow.

The 70-year-old man was viciously attacked in a motiveless and unprovoked attack by a gang of youths as he walked along Vicarage Farm Road.

He is still critical but stable in hospital, say police. No arrests have yet been made.

At the end of August George Walkington, 83, was taken to hospital after an attacker repeatedly stamped on his head on the Ocean Estate in east London.