By Keith Hunt

A man almost lost a finger when he was chased down the street and attacked with a sword in front of his children.

Victim David Bignall was attacked by Danny Penfold after a bitter dispute that had been building since the two men were in custody together.

Father-of-five Penfold, of Lapwing Close, Minster, is facing jail after admitting wounding with intent.

His father, David Penfold, 60, of Bell Farm Lane, Minster, was in court on the same charges, but the prosecution offered no evidence.

Maidstone Crown Court heard there had been a build-up of ill feeling before the incident in Meads Avenue, Sittingbourne, on July 2.

David Ross, prosecuting, said both Penfold, 39, and Mr Bignall, 28, had many previous convictions.

The court heard that Mr Bignall saw Penfold's father driving in the town. He then saw Penfold running towards him carrying what appeared to be a 4ft sword in one hand and a pool cue in the other.

Mr Bignall ran towards his grandmother's house but Penfold caught up with him and hit him "many times" with the sword, shouting threats to kill.

Mr Ross said the motivation for the attack seemed to be that Mr Bignall had verbally abused Penfold while they were in police custody.

The victim needed a seven-hour operation on his finger, which was only held on by a small amount of soft tissue. He also had a fractured index finger.

Mr Ross said: "The victim is particularly upset that the assault occurred in front of his children. They find it difficult to sleep."

Susan Rodham, defending, said the history to the case involved Penfold selling Mr Bignall a lorry for £1,000 while he was in prison in June 2009.

But Mr Bignall had no driving licence or insurance, and the lorry was impounded by police.

A £300 fee had to be paid when the lorry was removed from the compound and Mr Bignall thought it ought to be paid by Penfold and his father.

"While in prison, David Bignall threatened the defendant’s family that unless the £300 was paid he was going to be violent towards them," said Miss Rodham.

They refused to pay and Mr Bignall increased the amount to £500.

"There was an extreme amount of provocation," she said. "On one occasion, he threatened to burn out their trailer with them in it. The defendant was punched in the face by David Bignall and lost a tooth."

The court heard that Penfold had come upon the victim by chance in July and grabbed his sword from his trailer.

Miss Rodham said: "He says whatever had gone on before does not justify his actions.

"He said he was completely out of order. He just wants to live in peace once he has served his sentence."

Penfold, a scrap metal dealer and tree surgeon, had 45 previous court appearances for 83 offences.

Judge Philip St John-Stevens adjourned sentencing to a date not before January 24.

He told Penfold, who made protests from the dock: "I am not dismissing your frustration. I want to understand the motivation and pass the right sentence."