by Lynn Cox

A pub landlord, who was stabbed by a thug he threw out of his pub, was told by doctors his beer belly stopped the knife from damaging his vital organs.

Snaz Martin, 43, was attacked outside his pub, The Britannia in Gillingham High Street, last year.

The blade narrowly missed his prostate gland and doctors who patched him up at Medway Maritime Hospital told him it was lucky he had that extra inch of fat as his injuries could have been much worse if he'd been skinny.

Mr Martin said: "The doctor said I was lucky I had a bit of fat around my belly area as the knife would have penetrated my vital organs otherwise.

"I'm not that big - I only weigh 13 stone and I'm 5ft 8in - but I do have a bit of a beer belly. I did laugh when they told me, but I don't remember much after that as the doctors had given me a lot of medication."

The married dad-of-two, who also has two stepchildren and is a grandad, had thrown Paul Whibley, 24, out of the pub last January after the thug pulled the knife after becoming rowdy inside.

Whibley then started kicking the pub’s door and Mr Martin went outside to tell him to go away, but was stabbed.

He said: "I didn't even realise I'd been stabbed at first, it was only when I came back in the pub and everyone saw the blood on me. We'd never seen the guy before, he wasn't a regular."

Whibley, of Burling Road, Snodland, was given a four-year prison sentence recently at Canterbury Crown Court, after pleading guilty to wounding with intent.

Mr Martin added: "I'm pleased he went to prison."