ATTACK victim Andrew Quelch had just recently been reunited with his family after 10 years apart.

Mr Quelch, 48, died in hospital on Wednesday after being found with serious head injuries at his housing association bedsit in High East Street, Dorchester.

The three sisters who were reunited with their long-lost brother after a 10-year search are trying to come to terms with his death.

They told how Mr Quelch grew up in the Blurton area of Stoke-on-Trent and attended Aynsley Special School in Blythe Bridge.

One of Mr Quelch’s sisters Amanda Lockett, of Weston Coyney, in Stoke, said: “He was a very gentle guy and one of the nicest people you could meet – he would give you his last penny.

“He would not hurt a fly and we are all going to miss him terribly.”

Sisters Amanda, Liz and Bev and the rest of their family had lost contact with Mr Quelch, who had learning disabilities, about 10 years ago.

He had moved south after his bungalow in the Meir area of the city was ransacked by burglars and there was no trace of him as he became homeless and developed an alcohol problem.

But police reunited Mr Quelch with his family in April this year after the death of his 76-year-old mother, Iris, who lived in Weston Coyney in Stoke.

Mrs Lockett, 45, who works with disabled children, added: “We had looked for him for all those years without success.

“In the days before mum’s death she was pining for him. On the day she died we went to the police station and they got him on the phone in two hours. He was very distressed.”

Mr Quelch was reunited with his family when he returned to Stoke for his mother’s funeral at Carmountside on May 11.

Mrs Lockett said: “He stayed at my house for two weeks as we tried to comfort each other and he completely stopped drinking.

“He had to go back down because his key worker was trying to find him accommodation.

“We had been in contact with him since and he was doing really well in a new flat and has had days where he has been absolutely sober.

“I only spoke to him earlier this week and we talked about scattering mum’s ashes and he was going to come and see me and the family at Christmas.”

Mr Quelch’s sisters spoke after friends in Weymouth paid tribute to him.

Angie Barnes, an outreach worker at the Soul Food soup kitchen, said Mr Quelch appeared to be getting his life back together when she last saw him.

Mr Quelch, who had slept rough on the streets of Weymouth, had recently been found accommodation in Dorchester.