The hugs who violently robbed a cancer sufferer of his jewellery just yards from his front door ran away laughing.
Ahmet Dobran is still fighting for his life a month after he was brutally attacked in Newham, east London on August 27.
Police have released CCTV images which show three men – who haven’t yet been identified – fleeing the scene with smiles on their faces.
Today his family have shared a photograph of the 82-year-old struggling in hospital after he has been drifting in and out of a coma since the incident last month.
Ahmet Dobran is still fighting for his life a month after he was brutally attacked in Newham, east London on August 7
Ahmet’s horrific injuries were described by a police officer as the worst he had seen from such an incident.
PC Sam Bush, investigating officer for the incident, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this personally.
‘Ahmet was not in a good way when I spoke to him, but he was at the best possible standard to speak and since then he has deteriorated.
He said: ‘He had swelling on his neck and the only way to get him to stay still, because he was getting agitated, was to put him in an induced coma to help himself.
‘His breathing was very limited as well, so after that happened they brought him out of the coma again, which was successful in that part, but he has now got a tube in his trachea to help him breathe, so he’s still in a bad way.’
PC Bush, who has been in the police force for ten years, said CCTV showed Mr Dobran walk into his flat in east London closely followed by the thugs.
One waits outside while the two others follow Mr Dobran into the flat’s communal area – then emerge laughing 30 seconds later.
Laughter: Two of the suspects, pictured above left and right, were caught on CCTV fleeing from the seen laughing
The victim told PC Bush how he was grabbed by the neck before his attackers began hailing down punches to his back and arms.
He was then pinned to the ground while his jewellery was snatched.
Doctors fear the brutal assault has aggravated Mr Dobran’s Parkinson’s disease and a cancer he was already receiving treatment for.
PC Bush added: ‘After the event, actually on the day, some CCTV was recovered by the initial investigating officers.
‘The initial footage is of Ahmet going into the flat and one of them stands outside.
‘Two go into the flat behind him, 30 seconds later they run off laughing.
‘It’s seconds – the footage captures them run out seconds after the attack has happened.’
CCTV shows the trio following Mr Dobran into the flat’s communal area before emerging laughing 30 seconds later
Police believe the attackers can only be the three young men shown in CCTV released following the attack.
PC Bush said: ‘It can only be the three we have got.’
He said Mr Dobran’s children are devastated their ‘outdoorsy’ dad could now spend the rest of his life in hospital because of the attack.
The 29-year-old policeman, who has been a constable for five years, added: ‘He’s a proper character within the area, a lot of people know him, he’s a friendly guy.
‘He had a coffee with a couple of friends in East Ham and was walking back.
‘He visited a shop to get some bits and then he has walked across back to his address and then the attack has happened.
‘His family are completely devastated because for them their dad was an outdoorsy person.
‘Even though he’s 82 and frail he still would want to go out, so for them it’s devastating.
‘It’s upsetting for them to see their dad in that way. It’s the complete polar opposite.
‘It almost killed him.
‘I have not seen anything like this. It’s that rare that we do see anything like this which is why we believe it needed the coverage.
‘We believe it’s very much in the public interest we hold of the suspects that did this because we believe they could go on to do this to anyone else.
‘If they’ve done this to an 81-year-old they could do this to anyone without a guilty conscience.’