A dad-of-two has spoken of the moment his teenage neighbour broke into his home while high on cannabis and brutally stabbed him seven times as he tried to protect his girlfriend.
David Walton, 45, bravely stood up thug Scott Coley after being confronted on his landing by the teen wielding a Rambo-style hunting knife.
Coley, – who was just 17 at the time of the attack – had armed himself with the nine-inch blade and donned a balaclava before letting himself in to his neighbour’s home using a set of keys held by his parents.
David’s partner, Tracey Haynes, saw Coley in the hallway of their home in Walsall, West Mids., and started to scream.
The defiant dad then jumped out of bed and ran to protect his girlfriend – when he was brutally stabbed and slashed.
Coley, now 19, left David in a pool of blood on the stairs with stab wounds to his head and body but paramedics arrived just in time to save his life.
Last week, Coley was handed an 18 year prison term for attempted murder at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
During the trial, the court heard the teenager had a collection of knives which he liked to keep “shiny and sharp”.
Jurors also heard how he had smoked cannabis all day before the near-fatal assault.
Jailing Coley, Judge Robin Onions said he believed the attack was ‘premeditated’ and rejected his excuse that he had blacked out.
He said: “This was a sustained assault over a period of time with a deadly weapon.”
Following the sentencing, David told how he has been left unable to continue working as an electrician due to his arm injuries.
He spent two weeks in hospital and has had three operations so far, with more expected to follow.
Describing the devastating effect the terrifying attack has had on his life, David said he still struggles to sleep at night one year later.
He said: “I had a brilliant life, what I would call a perfect life really.
“I loved my job. I used to look forward to getting up every morning to go to work. I went to the gym three times a week since I was 16.
“Now all of a sudden, I’m stuck in the house all the time, worried about what I’m going to do next.
“I relive the bit on the stairs over and over and over again.
“I’d gone to bed and Tracey, my partner, was in the shower.
“I’d fallen asleep and the next thing I remember is being woken up to Tracey screaming her head off.
“She’d seen the door open and there was this guy there all in black.
“I pushed her out of the way and went into the hallway to get him out of the house.”
“I was facing death for 20 minutes on those stairs.
“I haven’t got an enemy on this planet – I don’t understand why he did this.”
