Tommy Ward murder: Anniversary appeal for information

Tommy Ward, 80, died from his injuries five months after the brutal attack

Detectives investigating the murder of an 80-year-old pensioner have appealed for information on the fifth anniversary of the attack.

Tommy Ward was found badly beaten following a robbery at his home in Maltby, Rotherham, on 1 October 2015. He died in hospital five months later.

A number of arrests have been made but nobody has been charged.

Police are still tracking down those involved and said there were people "out there who know what happened".

Mr Ward died as a result of his injuries on 23 February 2016.

About £30,000 of the former miner's life savings, which were held in a safety deposit box, were stolen from his house on Salisbury Road in the attack.

Mr Ward's life savings were stolen from his home in the attack

Det Insp Lee Nesbeth, of South Yorkshire Police, said the pensioner's death sent "shockwaves" through the community and officers had worked "unrelentingly over the last five years to identify those responsible for this crime".

"There are individuals out there who know what happened to Tommy and there are still people yet to talk to police about what they know.

"I'd ask those people to think about Tommy's family - his loved ones, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"They have fought for five years for answers, to find out what happened to him. They are desperate to know why someone would want to harm Tommy."

He described the attack as a "horrific act of violence on a defenceless, elderly man" and urged anyone with information to contact the force.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of murder in August 2016 and subsequently released on bail without charge.

The following year a man and a woman were detained on suspicion of robbery and murder and also released.

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