A boy who went out to buy a kebab was stabbed in the head by another teenager in a “random act of violence”.

The 14-year-old victim was walking along King Street in Ramsgate when John Gould, 18, plunged the knife into his temple.

The boy and a friend had just passed Gould’s flat when he screamed from his window: “Do you know who I am? I will stab you in the throat.”

Armed with the blade, Gould, who now lives in St Andrew’s Close, Whitstable, rushed out of the property and delivered one “quick strike” to the boy’s head after he refused to engage in a fight.

His injuries would have been catastrophic if the three-and-half inch knife landed a fraction lower, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

The terrified boy told how he now suffers flashbacks and nightmares, fears leaving his home and battles depression following the assault in June last year.

He explained how on one occasion, while shopping with his mother, he “froze” and had to rush home after seeing Gould in Ramsgate.

“I have suffered quite a lot of trauma after the stabbing,” he told the court.

“I have become very nervous and afraid. Before this happened I was the same as every other kid my age - I was confident and happy.

“However, the very next day after the stabbing I was terrified.

“All I did was go out to get some food and I got stabbed in the head.”

Prosecutor Don Ramble told how Gould levelled multiple threats towards the boy and his friend as they passed his home shortly after midnight, including “come in and fight me” and “I will stab you in the neck”.

“The pair sensibly went on their way past the shouting Mr Gould to buy a kebab, but the defendant left the property and pursued them,” he continued.

CCTV footage played in court showed Gould gesturing towards the pair, revealing his waistband, apparently illustrating he was unarmed.

But Gould ran back into the property, armed himself with the knife and stabbed his victim, before running away, Mr Ramble explained.

'All I did was go out to get some food and I got stabbed in the head...'

“Mr Gould’s father quite properly explained to the police that the knife was in the kitchen and Mr Gould was arrested at 1.20am,” he continued.

Following his arrest, Gould, who was 17 at the time of the attack, told officers: “I shouldn’t have done it really.”

He also said to paramedics he was scared of going to prison.

His victim was rushed to hospital, where his wound was treated with surgical glue, and he was given antibiotics.

Judge Simon James described the attack as “unholy, gratuitous” and a “random act of serious violence”.

He sentenced Gould to 18 months in a Young Offenders’ Institute.

He added: “You can be seen walking purposefully to the nearby fast food outlet before lashing out with the knife, causing a deep wound to the side of your victim’s skull.

“It is therefore only by pure luck your victim did not suffer life-changing injuries.”

As Gould was 17 at the time of the attack he was sentenced as a juvenile, Judge James explained.

Gould pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a knife.

However, he was still unable to explain the reasoning behind his actions, his lawyer said.

“[He is] unable to give any real explanation for his actions save to say some derogatory comments were made, which set him off,” Natasha Spreadborough said.

Gould, of previous good character, was “not complying” with ADHD medication at the time of the attack, has a “fragile adolescent personality” and “emotional immaturity,” she added.