TWO men have been jailed after a gang cornered a man and held a knife to his head before stabbing him three times.

The following day, a court heard, the men came to his house before banging on his door and shouting at him to ‘keep his mouth shut’.

Craig Pitts, 27, of Cotman Close, Abingdon, and Simon Waller, 36, of Windrush Way, Abingdon, were both jailed for their part in the attack on October 22.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday how the men visited the Abingdon home of Karl Mckenzie at about 9.30pm to source amphetamine sulphate, known as speed.

Jane Davies, prosecuting, said: "He was at home with his family when two men came to his door, the two defendants Mr Pitts and Mr Waller.

"They are both known to Mr Mckenzie. He answered the door to them and stood outside to speak to them.

"It became apparent they wanted him to secure drugs for them.

"He felt quite intimidated by them and in order to get them away from his house and his children he said he would see what he could do."

They agreed to meet in an alleyway off Saxton Road and when Mr Mckenzie arrived the pair had been joined by a third man, and it quickly became apparent Mckenzie did not have the drugs.

Ms Davies added: "He was surrounded by them. They became aggressive and got right up against him.”

Pitts then produced a Stanley knife and held it to Mr Mckenzie’s head before telling him repeatedly that he was going to stab him.

He then lunged at Mckenzie’s shoulder three or four times causing him to bleed from three separate stab wounds.

One of the other men, Waller, then swore at the victim and told him to keep his mouth shut, the court heard.

Mckenzie was treated for his wounds and released from hospital that night and two of the men returned the following day and banged on his door, shouting through the letterbox.

The court heard how Pitts had a string of previous convictions, including racially aggravated assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Last year he was caught with a samurai sword and given a suspended sentence for which he found himself in breach of at the court on Monday.

Pitts was sentenced to a total of 26 months in prison – comprising 20 months for the wounding and seven months for possessing the blade, to run concurrently, and an additional six months for breaching his suspended sentence.

Waller was jailed for a total of 13 months for his part in the attack.

Two other men, Robert Brewerton and Mark Quinn, were released after prosecutors offered no evidence.