Stan Dixon, 60, was well known for the belief in traditional values which cost him his life

A man has been charged with killing a former soldier allegedly attacked on a bus after telling thugs not to swear in front of a lady.

Stan Dixon, 60, had been fighting for life since the attack on Saturday but died in hospital yesterday, police revealed today.

A 23-year-old man initially arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent has now been charged with the murder.

Mr Dixon, renowned for his traditional values, was travelling home with his 41-year-old partner on Saturday evening when he heard the group's bad language.

He asked them to refrain from swearing in front of a woman - but the couple were met with a torrent of abuse.

To avoid any further confrontation, they decided to get off at an earlier stop than they had planned.

But as they stood at the doors of the bus, which was nearing Mr Dixon's home in Horden, County Durham, two of the gang allegedly pushed him in the back.

The father of three fell forwards off the bus, on to the road where he collapsed unconscious with major head injuries.

He was taken by ambulance to Sunderland Royal Hospital, then transferred to Newcastle General, where his injuries were described as life threatening.

He was on a life support machine and eventually lost his battle for survival yesterday.

His partner, Anne Fisher, and other family members had been keeping a vigil at his bedside.

Mr Dixon's next-door neighbour Edward Slack, 67, said: 'Stan is a thoroughly decent man who would rather do a good turn than a bad turn.

'It doesn't surprise me that he would ask someone to stop swearing in public, especially if he was out with his lady friend.

'Stan's something of an old fashioned bloke with traditional values, it's just the type of thing I would expect him to do, rather than sit and pretend it wasn't happening.'

He said Mr Dixon, a former mechanic, had had some health problems in recent years.

Mr Slack, a former parish councillor, spoke to Mr Dixon's partner yesterday morning as she left home to go to hospital. 'She was very upset,'

He added. 'She said it was looking bad for him. This is an absolutely terrible thing to happen.

'I gather they had been for a quiet night out and were on their way home.

'It all seems so senseless, that someone could die just because you asked for a little consideration.'

Mr Dixon served in the Army as a teenager before returning to the North-East where he married Elsie, 56. They divorced eight years ago.

The couple have three children - Paul, 34, June, 31, and 25-year-old Louise.

At Mr Dixon's local British Legion, the steward Salim Haif said: 'Stan is a very quiet man who tends to sit on his own, or with a lady. He is a very polite and nice man.'

Meanwhile, Rosemary Patterson, 59, a close friend, added: 'It is shocking what has happened to him. He lives quietly and he does not cause anybody any harm.

'If he was attacked simply for asking somebody to stop swearing then that is despicable. He is not the sort of person to go looking for trouble.'

The couple had been travelling on the 243 Arriva service from Hartlepool to Peterlee at about 10.15pm when the attack happened.

Detective Sergeant Cliff Down, of Peterlee police, is leading the investigation into the attack.

He said: 'There was a row between two males and a female at the back of the bus and a gentleman interjected and asked them to calm down and stop swearing. The man got off the bus and ended up unconscious on the pavement.'

'We want to speak to anyone who saw what happened, whether they were travelling on the bus or passing by.

'We believe two elderly ladies got off the bus at Blackhall and we are particularly keen to make contact with them.'

Gangs of thugs have been responsible for a series of attacks in recent months.

In May last year, 22-year-old Kevin Johnson, a father of one, was fatally stabbed outside his home in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, by a gang of yobs he had asked to keep the noise down.

Then, in August, father-of-three Garry Newlove, 47, was punched and kicked to death after confronting a gang of drunken thugs vandalising his wife's car outside the family home in Warrington, Cheshire.