A GRANDFATHER who lost his memory and spent nine hours in hospital with head injuries after a brutal mugging was left too embarrassed to tell the police that he couldn't remember any details.

Robert Rumsey, 58, was walking home from the Victoria pub in Lliswerry, Newport, on Monday, November 26 when he says he was attacked outside the former King pub on Somerton Road at about 9pm.

The former rubber liner doesn’t remember much about the mugging, but doctors later told him it looked like he had been kicked in the face and the back of the head.

From what they've been able to piece together, his family think he blacked out after the attack, but managed to make it home.

He woke up at 2am covered in blood and, panicking, he called his family for help.

Mr Rumsey, who has four children and nine grandchildren, spent nine hours in hospital, and his daughter now says it's heart-breaking to see how the attack has affected his confidence.

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“He is still shaken up and on edge when he leaves the house,” said Cerys Rumsey.

“It’s just heart-breaking for us to see him like this.

“My father is a very popular and well known in the area for his kind nature, and he wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“He is always the life and soul of the party. At around 9pm he called it a night and walked home.

“He got as far as the old King pub on Somerton Road before it happened.

After knocking him to the ground, the muggers stole his phone and his bank card, and left Mr Rumsey bleeding and dazed on the pavement.

Ms Rumsey explained her dad couldn't remember most of the attack, but turned up at her house at 2.30am covered in blood after waking up and calling her for help.

“I told him he needed to go to the hospital," she said.

"After CT scans and other checks the hospital said he had been kicked in the face so hard it caused splitting of the eyebrow, under the eye and nose.

“They also said the attackers probably pulled his coat up over his head so he couldn’t see what was happening, as the blood was on the bottom of his coat.

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“He wants to forget it happened. All he wants is his phone back as it has photos of the grandchildren on it.

“He was too embarrassed to go to the police because he remembers so little about it.

“Someone is going to get killed if this continues. Sooner or later, something bad will happen.”

Ms Rumsey managed to track her dad's phone, which was last active at 9.51pm on Oliver Road.

Speaking to the Argus, Mr Rumsey said: “People just need to carry on going out and having fun.

“You can’t let these animals scare everyone.”

His family shared pictures of Mr Rumsey's injuries online, and are now appealing for anyone with information that could lead to the recovery of his phone to come forward.

You can contact the family through Ms Rumsey's Facebook page.