A defiant pensioner vowed not to become a “prisoner in his own home” despite a brutal attack by a robber on his doorstep which left him with a broken jaw.

Old soldier Bill Hopkins, aged 78, was pushed over and the robber searched his pockets as he lay on the ground outside his house in Gooch Street, Digbeth.

Police believe the robber had followed him all the way from the bookies where he had just won £40 on the horses.

The robber stole £40, his bank cards and a memorial card dedicated to his late wife.

But Mr Hopkins, who served in Germany and Malaya with the Cherry Pickers 11th Hussars regiment, has refused to let the shocking attack change his day to day routine.

“It hasn’t put me off going out and doing things, not at all,” he said.

“I will carry on as normal - I won’t let anyone dictate to me what I should or shouldn’t do.”

The attack happened at 8pm on Saturday November 10.

Mr Hopkins had spent the afternoon at a bookies in the markets area of Birmingham and then walked to the nearby Ladbrokes in the Arcadian Centre to pick up his winnings.

“Police reckon someone in the bookies had watched me pick up my winnings and then followed me home,” he said.

“I got to my house and picked up a plastic bag which was on the ground and that’s all I can remember.”

Mr Hopkins’ daughter, Pat Kurila, said her dad must have regained consciousness, let himself into his house and then phoned her.

“I rushed straight round and found him standing in the kitchen with his head pouring with blood,” she said.

“He told me he was hurt but couldn’t remember how it happened.”

Am ambulance was called and Bill spent two days in City Hospital.

He suffered a broken jaw, bruising to his face and still cannot eat solid foods.

Mrs Kurila said: “Police think he was hit on the back of the head and then the robber or robbers took his wallet and rifled through his shirt pocket and trouser pockets thinking he had more cash on him.”

Mr Hopkins, whose wife Peggy died three years ago, has lived in his house since 1969 and has two daughters, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the attack to contact them on 101.