A man was stabbed in the chest with an eight-inch hunting knife as he desperately tried to protect his family from three balaclava-clad raiders.

In a victim impact statement read to Woolwich Crown Court this morning, the victim - who we have agreed not to name - recounted the moment he lay bleeding out on the floor, unable to help his partner or her daughter as they were dragged around their Longfield home “like rag dolls”.

It was his partner who he credits with saving his life after she escaped through a tiny bathroom window to raise the alarm and end the terrifying ordeal just as Dean Kenny raised the knife above his head to stab him a second time.

Today Kenny, a 28-year-old father-of-one, is starting a 16-year sentence but his two accomplices — who were armed with coshes during the attack — are still at large after he repeatedly failed to reveal their identities.

Kenny, of Frobisher Way, Greenhithe, led the gang as they burst into the Foxwell Way bungalow one evening in January and demanded to be taken to the family’s safe.

The male victim, who runs a construction company, was stabbed as he punched Kenny and was unable to enter the code, while the daughter twice attempted to flee and eventually managed to barricade herself in the bathroom with one of the raiders attempting to smash his way in.

Her mum was also in too much of a state to correctly enter the safe’s code and eventually the men fled with her Cartier watch and Gucci ring.

The man spent a week in hospital and luckily the worst of his physical injuries was a punctured lung but the 11-minute incident has changed his family’s life forever.

He wrote in his statement: “We were so happy and now we live in constant fear. We will never be the same again, these animals have taken everything from us.”

"We will never be the same again, these animals have taken everything from us"

His partner said: “I remember seeing my partner covered in blood, grey and fighting for his life,” adding the family now face an “ongoing battle to get through every day.”

The couple have had to sell their home which they had hoped to stay in for the rest of their lives and are still undergoing counselling. The daughter has left her job and none of the family can face spending time apart.

Shub Banerjee, prosecuting, told the court Kenny – who was jailed for nine months in 2013 for his part in 120 ball bearing attacks on car and properties – was caught after his DNA was found under the man's finger nails.

Kenny – who admitted grievous bodily harm and aggravated burglary on the first day of his trial – was sentenced to 16 years, including two on licence, for stabbing the man and 10 years to run concurrently for the raid.

Judge Karen Walden-Smith told him he would only be considered for release after serving two thirds of his term adding: “Your victims must have been very comfortable in the ordinariness of the evening in question until you and your companions burst in on their lives and exploded that sense of safety and security.

“You truly did turn their lives upside down.”

Investigating officer Det Con Kara Sweetland said: "This is a significant sentence for a man who inflicted a terrifying attack on an innocent family, causing them not only physical injuries but also leaving them emotionally vulnerable and I’d like to commend their bravery throughout this court case.

"This was a horrendous incident which will stay with them for the rest of their lives and this sentence was justifiably deserved.

"Our investigation is not yet over as we are still working to identify the two other men who were reported to have assisted Kenny in this awful crime. They are described as white and with south London accents, and I would encourage anyone who has information about these two men to get in touch.

"I’m pleased Kenny will be locked away for a long time and I’d really like to see the other two people behind bars as well so if anyone does have any information please call us on 01474 366 149 quoting XY/001401/17 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."