The victim of a machete attack hacked 10 times in a doorway has narrowly avoided jail for firing a starter pistol at his assailants.

Ellis Priest suffered “severe injuries” and was airlifted to a London hospital following the frenzied assault in Faversham last year.

Wielding a machete, teenager Troy Gosden chased Priest into a doorway in St Paul's Avenue where he hacked at him about 10 times before delivering the final blow which punctured a lung.

The then 18-year-old victim, who had fired an Olympic 6 starter pistol, also suffered a deep wound that exposed and cut tendons in his forearm. The tip of his thumb was also sliced off.

The attack happened in the early evening of January 25 last year and was captured on CCTV.

It is understood Priest had known his two assailants for several years and had been to school with Gosden’s accomplice, Kai Theodule, but they had drifted apart and then fallen out over a girl.

This led to "threats and aggravation" over social media and, shortly before the attack itself, a friend of Priest's had been threatened by a group of men in a car.

At a previous hearing last year, a court heard they wound down the window, held a knife to his stomach and warned: "This is what Ellis is going to get."

Gosden, of Charles Drayson Court, Faversham, later admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and having a bladed article, while Theodule pleaded guilty to affray.

Both claimed when arrested, however, that they had acted in self-defence, saying they feared for their lives as the gun was fired at them.

In November, Godsen was locked up for five-and-a-half years and Theodule, of Hersden, near Canterbury, was given 12 months’ custody suspended for two years.

Priest appeared before Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and violence, which he previously pleaded guilty to.

Prosecuting, Gemma Rose said CCTV from the night showed the teenager holding a black pistol and discharging it towards his attackers.

She told the court the weapon only shot blanks and, after firing it, Priest discarded it underneath a bin before fleeing.

Defending, Max Reeves agreed the pistol was fired but claimed the defendant had “no intention to discharge it”.

He told the court: “He thought the mere production [of the weapon] would be enough to pass off the threat. It was not.”

Reeves said Priest, who is a carer for his grandfather, was “acting in self-defence” after being threatened with machetes and only wanted “to scare them away”.

He added: “Mr Priest does not know why these people took violence against him or what the issue was.

“He had not done anything to them. He expected them to be there at the time and wanted to have the matters resolved.

“He took the pistol in the event that they did attack him he would be able to ward them off with it.”

“This is a very serious offence but I do not consider you a risk or danger to the public…”

The court heard how the now 19-year-old, was given the firearm by a family member for his protection that day as he was aware of the threats being made against him.

Sentencing, Judge Gareth Branston said the dad-to-be was responding to “quite extraordinary circumstances” but he accepts his “level of remorse” and efforts to turn his life around following the incident.

He added: “You were seriously injured and you were worried and scared.

“Although you were a person attacked, you had armed yourself and you accept that you are guilty of a criminal offence because of that.

“It was a foolish decision to arm yourself but, to some extent, this was the result of intimidation and fear of what was out there.

“You took an imitation firearm out in public where you clearly intended to cause fear or violence.

“You have paid a significant price for your actions. It did not protect you and you came off much worse.

“This is a very serious offence but I do not consider you a risk or danger to the public.”

He gave Priest an eight-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work.