A scissor-wielding butcher has been jailed after repeatedly stabbing a grandad in the head in front of his family.

Scott Burgess attacked former Royal Marine Thomas Naish four times in the head and body in Tenterden.

A jury took just an hour and 15 minutes to acquit the 43-year-old of wounding with intent, but convict him on the lesser charge of unlawful wounding.

Judge Simon James told the father-of-two: “It was by pure chance your actions didn’t result in much more serious injuries than that.

“I consider the attack to have been both sustained and repeated.

“The fact that the attack was witnessed by onlookers and Mr Naish's family is an aggravating factor.”

The five-day trial heard Mr Naish "just hoped to see another day" after the attack.

He also told the jury how he struggled to his knees and held his skull together following the sustained attack at Tenterden's Spires care home.

The attack centred on a row over a caravan and money held within the family, the court heard.

It culminated in Burgess and partner Cherry-Anne junior driving to the care home in Saint Michaels, where Mr Naish and his daughter Hetty-Anne junior were visiting estranged wife and mother Hetty-Anne senior.

When Mr Naish approached their car the situation turned sinister, the jury was told.

Mr Naish, of Lincolnshire, said the stabbings to his back felt as if he was "being punched".

However, when he faced Burgess he realised he was repeatedly being stabbed in the head.

“He was stabbing my head,” he told the jury.

“My hands were all stuck together and I could feel it (the blood) on my face.”

“When he stopped, what did you do?” prosecutor Paul Valder asked.

“I got to my knees, I put my hands on the top of my head to try and hold it together," said Mr Naish.

“Was he (Scott Burgess) saying anything to you?” Mr Valder asked.

Mr Naish replied: “If you don’t die now I will come back and finish the job.

“Then he said something to my daughter Hetty-Anne junior like 'you are next'.

“The blood was pulsing, it was squirting out of my right arm and when I looked down, the ground was all covered in blood.

“I just hoped to see another day,” he argued.

Burgess, who has 24 convictions for 31 offences, claimed the injuries were caused in self-defence.

He could be seen shaking his head for significant periods during the trial.

The victim was treated for multiple wounds to his head and body, which required stitching and stapling at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital, following the assault on March 28.

Mitigating, Paul Hogben said: “Mr Burgess was the breadwinner, he was working, earning a living.

"It was by pure chance your actions didn't result in much more serious injuries than that" - Judge Simon James

“He has not seen his daughter since the crawling stage because he has been on remand.

“He said to me ‘it seems she (my daughter) doesn’t know who I am.’ “

The barrister said it was an “Isolated and out character offence” without pre-meditation and self defence went “too far.”

But Judge Simon James shot down the claim, highlighting the scissors were never found and the defendant attended the scene armed.

He jailed Burgess for three years for wounding, which carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, and imposed a three-year restraining order.

It means Burgess, of Rolvenden, Cranbrook, would be committing a crime by contacting Mr Naish during that period.

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