A GWENT man viciously attacked by a gang of thugs is receiving counselling.

Alan Hughes, 58, from Oakfield in Cwmbran, suffered a fractured eye socket and severe bruising after five men kicked, punched and stamped on him just yards from his daughter's home earlier this month.

He had surgery to recast the bone around his eye and doctors said he was lucky not to need a metal plate and screws inserted in his face.

But it is the emotional after-effects of the attack that Mr Hughes is now struggling to come to terms with. He has only left the house to visit hospital since the attack nearly three weeks ago and yesterday he attended his first counselling session after saying the attack had "violated and dehumanised him."

"I feel like I have been emptied. It's like the world that I thought existed around me doesn't actually exist anymore. Everything changes after something like this."

Mr Hughes told the Argus he had received wonderful support from family and friends in the Oakfield community. He said he feels physically and mentally drained after the assault but his condition is improving every day.

Mr Hughes was walking home from an evening at a friend's house at around 2am on Sunday, April 9 when a young man started verbally abusing him on Green Willows. He said the youth made a call on his mobile phone and moments later four more youths "appeared from nowhere" and brutally assaulted him.

The attack continued on his daughter Tania Carrington's doorstep on Abbey Green.

PC Darrell Dewar, from Cwmbran police, said two men had been interviewed and others were due to be shortly. Anyone with any information should contact Cwmbran police on 01633 838111.