A man who had both legs amputated after he was severely beaten and kicked outside his home told a jury he was knocked out after up to six males charged at him with baseball bats.

Keith Alder was giving evidence in the trial of 22-year-old Ladislav Balaz who denies wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and being in possession of a baseball bat on October 22, 2011.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court was told that Balaz’s uncle, Bartolomej Makula, was jailed for 15 years in April last year after admitting the offences.

Prosecutor, Sophie Drake, said yesterday that Mr Alder, 66, was subjected to “a severe assault.”

He suffered skull fractures, most of his bowel had to be removed and both his legs were amputated. It was feared at one time that he would not survive.

Miss Drake said the Crown’s case was that Balaz, of Samuel Street, Keighley, attacked Mr Alder with a baseball bat.

She alleged that, after his uncle was arrested, Balaz, a Slovakian national, told his sister and mother he was party to the assault by hitting the man with a baseball bat. The women contacted the police.

Miss Drake said: “The real issue in the case is ‘was this defendant involved in the assault?’”

A video interview, from January 11, 2012, when Mr Alder was still in Bradford Royal Infirmary, was played in court.

Sitting in a chair in his dressing gown, Mr Alder said he attended a function at the Fat Pot Club, on Great Horton Road, and was walking home after 10pm when he saw five or six males coming towards him with baseball bats. He was nearly back at his home in Sowden Street, Great Horton, when they charged at him.

He ran but was struck in the face and remembered nothing after that. He thought they were Asian. One looked like the actor Danny DeVito.

When asked by the police how he felt, Mr Alder said: “I hate them. They have ruined my life, that’s for sure.”

Mr Alder, who attended court, told the jury of his assailants: “They were tooled up with baseball bats. I knew they weren’t going to shake my hand.”

The trial continues.