A DISABLED pensioner was beaten up after he confronted people having sex outside his front door.

George Ibister was so badly injured by the gang that his relatives thought he had been stabbed.

Doctors said the former soldier, who had been trying to protect his poorly wife, was lucky not to have been blinded.

Relatives of the 65-year-old, who confronted the gang to ask them to leave, found him bleeding on the pavement.

He was taken to hospital where he was treated for head wounds and severe bruising.

Recovering at home in Shrewsbury Drive, Backworth, North Tyneside, yesterday, Mr Ibister said: "We've warned the housing association for over a year about what is going on."

Mr Ibister, who said it was the latest in a series of problems with teenagers threatening and abusing residents, was attacked at about 10.15pm last Friday.

A spokesman for North British Housing, which owns the houses on the estate, said: "We take anti-social behaviour very seriously but, unfortunately, because of the nature of anti-social behaviour orders, we can't alter things overnight."

Acting Detective Inspector Dave Watson urged anyone with information to call police on 0191-214 6555

* Two men, aged 18 and 43, and a woman, aged 32, were arrested on suspicion of assault and have been released on police bail pending further inquiries. Three other men have been charged with violent disorder.