A thug fuelled by alcohol and drugs who ambushed and repeatedly stabbed a teenager in an Ashford alleyway is facing life behind bars.

Michael Swansborough, right, himself just 19, had consumed a staggering 25 pints of beer or cider and taken up to 2.5g of cocaine when he tried to kill 18-year-old Lloyd Dawson-Smith in October last year.

Swansborough was ordered to be locked up for an indefinite per when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday.

Passing what is termed an indeterminate sentence for public protection, Judge Andrew Patience QC said he must serve a minimum of five years before being considered whether he is eligible for parole.

He remarked that it would be difficult for the parole board to decide whether Swansborough is “ever safe to be released”.

Swansborough, of Bridge Street, Wye, admitted attempted murder and possession of a bladed article at an earlier hearing.

Referring to his drink and drug consumption, the judge added: “So long as you are living that sort of lifestyle and you descend into a spiral of drink and drugs you present a significant risk of committing offences of a similar kind in the future, and you present a serious risk of causing serious injury or death.”

Judge Patience continued that had Swansborough been older and have a history of violence, the sentence would have been life.

The court heard he and his co-defendant Trevor Moore armed themselves with an axe and a knife before laying in wait for Mr Dawson-Smith in an alleyway leading to lock-up garages off Hythe Road.

Moore, 21, of Western Gardens, Willesborough, warned off the youth’s friends with the axe while Swansborough repeatedly stabbed, kicked and stamped on him.

Moore admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possessing an offensive weapon - the axe - and stealing Mr Smith’s mobile phone.

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years but will be automatically released after serving half his sentence, less 233 days already spent on remand.

Judge Patience said he accepted Moore had refused to hand over the axe when asked by Swansborough, and had also eventually tried to push him off Mr Dawson-Smith.

Mr Dawson-Smith was subjected to what the judge described as a “wicked, brutal and sustained attack without mercy.”

He suffered eight knife wounds, five of which were to his back. The court heard he underwent immediate life-saving surgery, during which he suffered cardiac arrest on several occasions.

“In my judgment, he would have died but for the intervention and skilled work of the surgeons,” said Judge Patience.

Louis French, defending Swansborough, said he had shown “unusual responsibility” in pleading guilty and acknowledging the wrong he had done.
He added that he was both remorseful and deeply ashamed.

Jacob Hallam, defending Moore, said the fact the two men were not facing a murder charge was “extraordinary”, and one which owed a great deal to Moore’s actions.

He said Moore only intended to scare Mr Dawson-Smith and refused to hand over the axe. Mr Hallam added that he also had his back to “the ferocity of what was happening.”