Alexander Mackay's life was saved by a passing motorist who dragged knife-wielding Ralph Latchana off him as he was being repeatedly stabbed.

Gerry Warren talks to Dave Reynolds about the day he risked his life to save a complete stranger.

For electrical engineer Dave Reynolds, it was supposed to be a regular working day - but September 21 last year turned out to be one he will never forget.

As others stood by watching in horror, the unassuming 52-year-old father-of-five came to the rescue of Alexander Mackay as he pleaded for his life while being stabbed in a frenzied attack by pub landlord Ralph Latchana.

He said: "I had left my home in Pine Tree Avenue and was driving through Wincheap to my office in Tenterden when a Mercedes came charging out of the petrol station and almost took the front of my van off.

"I had to brake hard to avoid hitting him but then he pulled over onto the other side of the road into the face of on-coming traffic.

"I flashed my lights and tooted at him to come back over and my first thought was that he must be drunk.

"But he speeded up and drove straight into a van coming the other way which he then started to ram with his car.

"A young lad then got out of the passenger seat at which point he rammed it again. I thought 'oh my God, what's going on here'. I thought I had better stop unless someone was injured and pulled up alongside the van.

"i wouldn't say he was demented but had a determined sort of look on his face...” – hero dave reynolds

"I was just about to get out when I saw the driver of the Mercedes walk past with a great big knife in his hand. By this time the van driver had got out and the Mercedes driver just walked straight up to him and stabbed him in the stomach.

"I was thinking 'I don’t believe this is happening'. I got out the van and started shouting at him to stop but he never said a word.

"He was just going mad, really stabbing him hard around the shoulders. I shouting at him something like 'what do you think your doing?' But then he turned round and looked me straight in the eye as if to say 'don't get involved'. I wouldn't say he was demented but had a determined sort of look on his face. That's when he took a swipe at me with the knife and my hand was cut.

"He turned back round and went straight after the chap who, by then, was trying to get away and shouting 'help me someone, he's going to kill me'.

"He was stabbing him again and I don't know why - maybe it was just instinct - but I just grabbed him by the throat from behind and dragged him to the floor.

"We were fighting and the knife was right by my face but I just physically couldn't get it off him. I had him on the floor and then someone who was standing by the paper shop came over and helped me.

"They jumped on him and I managed to get the knife off him and throw it across the road and by that time someone else joined in so there were three of us.

"Once we'd got him subdued, I shouted 'has anyone called an ambulance' because I had gone back to the victim and was holding his stomach in which was hanging out.

Alexander Mackay was stabbed in Wincheap

He was saying, 'Oh God, I'm going to die' and I was saying 'no, you're going to be fine the ambulance is on its way.' Then all the emergency services arrived and took over.

"Looking back, I honestly don't know what made me do it. It was just instinct which kicked in because someone was shouting for help. Afterwards people were saying I was crazy to have jumped in. When my wife, Sandra heard the full story, she went a bit mad at me too.

"But I honestly believe that if I hadn't have stopped him, then he would have definately killed him there and then.

"It still makes me feel uneasy when I think about it now so I’m glad he's pleaded guilty and I don’t have to evidence."