A respected Indian takeaway owner has been jailed after he lost his temper and lashed out at a bailiff with a knife.

The enforcement officer, Louis Jackson, was only saved from serious injury by deflecting the blade away from his stomach with a clipboard.

Asik Miah's lawyer made a plea for him to walk free with a suspended sentence.

But a judge said it had to be immediate imprisonment and sentenced him to two and a half years for attempted wounding with intent.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Miah, 57, had run into financial difficulties at his Indigo restaurant in Castle Street, Tunbridge Wells.

Mr Jackson and colleague John Burton went there on September 6 last year to execute a High Court writ for a debt of £1,293 owed to Southern Water.

Prosecutor Craig Evans said Miah explained that he could only pay £200. Mr Jackson said it was insufficient and he was entitled to take items for the balance.

He went in and picked up the keys to a Nissan car owned by Miah’s wife. It was then that Miah became angry and confrontational, said Mr Evans.

He kicked Mr Jackson in the kneecap and struggled with him to get the keys.

“Mr Miah lost control,” said Mr Evans. “He picked up a kitchen knife with a 9in blade and thrust it towards his abdomen, shouting: ‘I am going to kill you. I am going to stab you in the belly.’

“Mr Jackson moved backwards to avoid the knife and used a metal clipboard to protect himself. He was able to deflect the knife with the clipboard.

“The blade struck it. Mr Jackson shouted at him to drop the knife. He continued to wave it about in a threatening way.”

Miah picked up a metal rod and was shouting at the bailiffs to get out of his shop. They restrained him until the police arrived.

Thomas Godfrey, defending, said the married father-of-five had led an unblemished life.

"I am going to kill you. I am going to stab you in the belly" - Miah, to his victim

“It will come as a huge shock to anybody who knows him, because it is so out of character,” he said. “He has made a contribution to the community, including a local school.”

Mr Godfrey said Miah, who admitted the offence, had chronic depression and was unwell mentally and physically.

“This came entirely out of the blue as someone who has never behaved in this fashion before,” he said. “He is a meek, humble and quiet man.”

He had run the takeaway for nine years but could be forced to close it if sent to prison. He had also run a restaurant in Cranbrook.

“It is terribly sad that this man has to go to prison,” added Mr Godfrey.

Judge Martin Joy told Miah: “The offences are extremely serious and present the court with an extremely difficult sentencing exercise.

“You lost your self-control. It is plain that had he not protected himself he would have suffered a very serious injury.

“This was an offence committed against those working in the public sector. Here, there were two such persons going about their lawful duties.

“The court has to be seen to protect those who sometimes have a dangerous job in enforcing court orders.”

The judge said there were “considerable mitigating factors”, but added a non-custodial sentence simply could not be justified.