Gary Jarvis is still in hospital on life support after being assaulted on Tuesday night as his nine-year-old daughter and girlfriend watched in horror.

Girlfriend Amanda Coyle and their daughter, Kerry-Ann, had been getting ready for bed at their Derryview Terrace home when the gang of up to ten men burst through the back door.

Little Kerry-Ann fled behind the sofa as they pushed Ms. Coyle into the bathroom and launched a vicious attack on Mr.Jarvis, landing blows on his face, legs and body. The father-of-one made a desperate attempt to escape by climbing out the bedroom window and running through a neighbour's house. But the gang caught up with him, dragged him into the garden where they again beat him.

Ms. Coyle, who has been with Mr. Jarvis for ten years, told the 'Journal': "I was kicking and shouting and I heard Kerry screaming. All three of us were screaming in different parts of the house. I heard Gary roaring out in pain and heard Kerry shouting: 'Leave my daddy alone.' Then it went silent."

After managing to get out of the bathroom, Mrs. Coyle discovered the gang attacking her partner outside.

She said: "I don't know how he got there because he was really bad at this stage. I heard them shouting 'beat him, beat him' and I ran towards him to try to stop them. Three of them came at me but I kept pushing them back. The next thing, one of them forced me up to the door and threw me into the house and slammed the door behind him. I got out and saw them running away. When I found Gary, he was unconscious. I was squealing for someone to help. There was blood everywhere. I thought he was going to die."

Bedside vigil

Mr. Jarvis was rushed to hospital and later transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he remains in a critical condition on a life support machine. His family are now holding a bedside vigil and his sister, Sharon, says they are all in complete shock at the attack.

"He is in a bad way," she said. "He is just lying there. I just can't believe it. It doesn't look like Gary. My mother can't go up to the hospital because she is in a bad way. My dad went up and he took one look at Gary and broke down. He hasn't left his side since. I've never seen my brother Sean cry before but he did when he took a look at Gary lying there. His hands and face are swollen and the doctor said they were going to do an operation on his brain. They don't know yet what he's going to be like after, if he's going to be brain damaged or be able to walk."

Police are still calling for witnesses to come forward and are anxious to speak to anyone with information about the attack.