A 73-YEAR-OLD man who collapsed with a suspected heart attack after his wife was assaulted in a Newton Abbot car park on Wednesday is in a serious condition at Torbay Hospital.

The man, who has not been named, is no longer in a critical condition, a police spokesman revealed today.

'But he is still said to be very ill,' she added.

The casualty suffered the attack moments after his 67-year-old wife had been attacked in the Sherborne Road car park just before 5pm on Wednesday.

l Simon Baltieri, 40, of no fixed address, appeared before Plymouth magistrates today on a charge of assault with intent to commit robbery.