A thug stabbed a friend several times in a frenzied attack after being accused of mistreating his Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog, a court heard.

Darren Wheeler was at his neighbour Chike Oyeka’s flat in Swanscombe when he grabbed a knife and lashed out at him.

Mr Wheeler told how he pulled the knife out of his side and lost five pints of blood.

Oyeka, 45, of Gilbert Close, denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but was convicted.

Jailing him for six years, Judge Richard Polden said: “In my judgement you had an intent to commit more serious harm than resulted from the offence.”

The victim told a jury at Maidstone Crown Court he had been drinking at the flat on February 24 last year.

“I was a bit slow reacting,” he said. “He came into the room and started lashing at my face. He didn’t say anything.

“As he swung the knife at me I put my arms up. He was trying to knife my face. There was no reason for the assault. He caught me in the chest and I fell back on the chair.

“It was only an inch away from my heart. I have a scar on my chest. There was one in my left side. I saw him plunge that one into me. I pulled it out.

“I started to feel weak. I went completely limp. I was on the floor. He was on top of me trying to stab me. I knocked the knife out of his hand.

"In my judgement you had an intent to commit more serious harm than resulted from the offence" - Judge Richard Polden

“He bit my face and drew blood. My thumb went into his mouth and he tried to bite it off. He tried to strangle me.

“As he was strangling me he said: ‘You are not such a bad man now.’ I just slumped on the floor. I blacked out completely. I came to and stumbled to the stairs.

“Some people came out. They put a shirt around the worst wound on my back. I lost five pints of blood.”

He was taken to King’s College Hospital in London and treated for his injuries. He was discharged the next day.

He admitted he “had a past” and had used drugs, but denied he had taken cocaine that day. He had a conviction for drugs.

Mr Wheeler agreed he told Oyeka, who has trained in security work: “It’s time you took your dog out. You leave it sitting on the landing and then you beat it with a bar.”

He said he would not call the RSPCA because Oyeka was a friend.

“I wouldn’t go and grass him up for something like that,” he added. “Like friends don’t stab you, but they do.”

Judge Polden said he was sure from the evidence that Mr Wheeler did not have a flick knife, as Oyeka, known as Goddy, claimed.

“You tried to place the blame on Mr Wheeler by falsely alleging he started the incident,” he told Oyeka, who has two cautions for common assault.

A total of 213 days on a tagged curfew will count towards the sentence.

After the sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Matt Lincoln said: "Throughout this investigation Oyeka protested his innocence but the jury saw through his lies and the judge handed a justifiable sentence.

"Knife crime is unacceptable and a crime Kent Police takes extremely seriously and we will not let people get away with acting in such a violent and aggressive manner."