A knife thug who stabbed and slashed a man in broad daylight after chasing him down the street in a revenge attack was given a three-year sentence.

Darren Tonner, 25, had been attacked by a gang of men and fought back with a metal pole, before going to his parents’ home in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, and grabbing a knife.

He chased his victim down the street and struck him with the knife, knocking the man to the ground and continuing to attack him.

Greenock Sheriff Court heard that Tonner was seen ‘stabbing and slashing’ his victim as the man curled up in a ball to protect himself, at around 4pm on June 8.

Last year Tonner had been jailed for going on a rampage armed with two machetes, and in July 2018 was sentenced to 14 months for the crime.

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Prosecutor Claire Rowan said: "The accused was chasing the complainer up and down the street.

"One witness saw him catch up with the man and swing the knife three or four times at him.

"He saw one blow strike the complainer on the side of his body.

"The complainer fell to the ground and the accused was seen to continue striking the complainer with the knife while he was on the ground.

"Another witness in a car saw the accused stabbing and slashing the complainer.

"The complainer was in a foetal prone position trying to protect himself.

"A witness shouted at the accused to stop, to which he did stop and thereafter ran off in the direction of his parents' house approximately 200 metres away."

He pleaded guilty to repeatedly striking the man on the head and body with a knife and a pole to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

The victim had several lacerations to the back of his head which required to be treated with a total of 15 staples, with one large wound needing seven of those staples.

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Defence brief David Tod said: "Mr Tonner was making his way home and was set upon by a number of individuals, including the complainer.

"Mr Tonner took himself off and went home and I accept that's where he should have stayed, but that's not what happened.

"He went out looking for the complainer.

"Rightly or wrongly he felt genuinely aggrieved towards certain individuals."

Tonner was sentenced to three years, backdated to when he was first remanded in custody on June 10.

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre said: "The gravity of this is not lost on you, I'm sure.

"You pursued this man and perpetrated a very sustained assault on him with a knife.

"It is only through good fortune that this did not result in more serious, or fatal, injuries.

"People reading about this will be horrified and the court cannot entertain the level of lawlessness shown by you."