TORONTO police are turning to the British media for help in identifying a well-groomed Englishman who lost his memory after he was mugged and is now stranded in a shelter for the homeless.

Police have asked for help from newspapers in the Yorkshire area, hoping someone may recognise the man.

Detective Steve Bone last Monday accompanied the man to a University of Toronto linguistics professor, who analysed the man's speech pattern and determined he is likely to be a member of the upper middle class in Yorkshire.

Since the robbery happened only a couple of blocks from the Bay St bus terminal, Mr Bone believes the man had arrived in Toronto recently.

"Obviously, the man had not been away from that area for too long a time because his speech pattern has not been corrupted by being in the presence of others,'' said Mr Bone.

The man, believed to be in his mid-20s, suffered head trauma and was left unconscious after the attack two weeks ago. "The only memory he had is raising himself off the pavement and making his way to a hospital,'' said Mr Bone.

Doctors diagnosed the victim as having amnesia and contacted police. The man said he didn't have any impression he was to meet anyone in town, so there has been no indication or report that he is a missing person.

"Unfortunately, the subject here is a man who spent a fair amount of his time travelling on his own, so with that lifestyle . . . it's not that anyone seems to expect him at any place,'' explained Mr Bone.

All the man has are the winter coat, cargo pants and boots he wore when he was attacked.

"It's a lot of Catch-22 in how you get help when you don't have a name,'' said Mr Bone. "When you don't have a social insurance number, welfare doesn't want to do anything for you."

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