A MAN has described the chilling attack which left him in intensive care.

Paul Harvey, of Chinook, High Woods, Colchester, was beaten so badly that when police discovered him he could not talk, so scrawled the name of his attacker in his own blood.

The Big Issue seller suffered ten fractures to his face, including a broken nose, jaw and cheekbone, a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

Mr Harvey, 30, had to drink through a straw for three months.

Spencer Wragg, 36, of London Road, Colchester, is now in jail after being convicted of the vicious attack, which happened on May 15 last year.

Bizarrely, Wragg and Mr Harvey were friends before the unprovoked attack.

Mr Harvey, who grew up in Maldon and went to the Plume School, said: “He came round to ask me if I could do him a favour.

“We were friends at the time and seemingly all was fine, as I had known him for some years. As we were talking, he asked if I knew of anyone who I wanted to be beaten up. I thought that was a strange thing to ask and said, no. For no reason, he then grabbed me round the throat and pushed me on my back.

“He stared at me, watching as I gasped for breath, and then started headbutting me.

“The second or third time I saw blood squirting up from my mouth and face, but he still had me pinned down and I passed out. I then woke up as he kicked me in the back and I passed out again.”

Mr Harvey woke up in a pool of his own blood and was struggling to breathe. He managed to get his mobile phone out from his pocket and dialled 999, but passed out again.

He added: “I thought I was going to die, as I couldn’t move or breathe.

“I thought the police would never be able to get a statement from me and he would get away scot-free.”

The police and ambulance service arrived at the scene and, unable to talk, Mr Harvey answered their questions by writing Y or N, for yes or no, in his own blood on his tiled floor.

When officers asked whether he knew his attacker, he scrawled “Spencer”.

Mr Harvey was put into intensive care at Colchester General Hospital, but was released after five days. He spent three months drinking through a straw.

He continued: “I now get really worried about who I open the door to, even my other friends.

“I can’t go out much, as his acquaintances walk past me in the street and say it’s my fault his kid can’t see his dad. My self-confidence has been knocked badly.”

Wragg was jailed for four years at Chelmsford Crown Court last month. He was also handed an extended licence of three years, which means he will be sent back to jail if he reoffends in the next seven years.

Det Con Jim Finnigan, of Colchester CID, said Wragg was a dangerous person with a history of violence. He described Mr Harvey writing his name in his own blood as “like something from Murder She Wrote”.