James Chaplin, of Southlands Road, is still looking for the thugs who savagely beat him in his own bed a year ago

James Chaplin, now 76, was in bed in his home in Southlands Road last February, when he woken by a noise.

Breaking in through the back door, two yobs illegally entered his home, with one coming into the bedroom where he lay sleeping.

Bleary from just waking up, before he had the chance to do anything he was hit twice in the face.

Describing the attack as ‘attempted murder’, Mr Chaplin has said he still wants to see his assailants brought to justice a year after the cowardly attack.

The retired draftsman said: “I didn't even get out of bed when I was hit twice.

MORE TOP STORIES "As I sat up in bed one of them shouted: ‘There's someone in here.’"

"I didn't see them; by the time I sat up he just punched me after seeing someone in the room.

"I didn't have time to be scared or to think, I was semi-conscious from waking up then it was bang, bang and I was laid out."

He was rushed to hospital, and spent weeks recovering from his injuries.

A few days after he was beaten, the cap on his tooth came off and he was forced to shell out £600 to fix it, but has since submitted a claim to recoup the costs.

But he says his voice has never recovered.

The father-of-one said: “It’s all healed up, I’ve still got a bit of something with my throat, my voice is not 100 per cent. My vocal chords are a bit gruff still.

Mr Chaplin after the attack

“Even on my son’s birthday in March I noticed, looking at photos, I still looked quite bruised.

“My personality completely changed, it became like I didn’t care about anything.

“I was talking to a nurse who says this does happened if you have a blow on the head, it can affect your brain and the way you think.

“Something changed, my personality changed following a knock on the head.”

He added he’s noticed he takes more risks now, and has even booked a holiday to America – something he would never have done before.

And despite getting on with his life, he beefed up security around his home, fearful his attackers may return.

The pensioner said: “I didn’t feel quite safe but since I had that done last summer its better.

"They nearly killed me.

Mr Chaplin now

“I got a locksmith to put secondary locks on the front of my house, like a mortice lock.

“What did worry me was that they might come back, so with the agreement of next door neighbour I’ve erected a 6ft by 3ft trellis panels on top of the three foot high fence, as that’s how they got in, they bolted over the fence.

“Now they’ve got to get over that. Burglars don’t like trellis.”

Ultimately, he is imploring the police to bring the criminals who viciously attacked him as he slept to justice.

The Met Police confirmed there have been no arrests made in the case.

Acting Detective Sergeant Ade Akinkunle, from Bromley's Burglary Squad said: "This was a violent assault on an elderly man in his home.

"We would like to hear from anybody who was in that area around that time and may have seen two men acting suspiciously.”

Anyone with information should call Bromley CID via 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.