The "pure evil" attackers of a popular and well-loved waiter who was ferociously stabbed and left for dead in a railway station alleyway have been jailed for a total of 18 years.

Cold-hearted Lewis Day and Daryl Brown were said by a judge to have acted "like a pair of jackals" when they ruthlessly ambushed Modasher Hossain as he was making his way home at the end of an evening shift at the Gandhi Tandoori restaurant in Herne Bay.

The 56-year-old had only just alighted from a train at Whitstable when, following a trivial incident in which he threw a beer can, he was chased from the platform by his two assailants.

Within seconds of running just a few metres into the adjacent alley, the married family man lay unconscious on the ground in a pool of blood, having suffered serious knife wounds for which Day and Brown, both with previous convictions for violence, later blamed each other.

At their 10-day trial earlier this year, Day, 26, from Ramsgate, claimed his co-accused had threatened to "f*** up' Mr Hossain - who neither man knew - before knocking him out cold and then viciously stabbing him as many as five times to his left thigh and buttock.

However, 33-year-old Brown, from Margate, told jurors that although he had pursued Mr Hossain, he had left him unharmed.

He claimed he only found out there had been a stabbing when, once back at the station, Day pulled out a 20cm-long kitchen knife with blood on the tip and confessed.

But it was the prosecution case that both men acted together in what is known as 'joint enterprise', and that each was liable for the acts committed by the other even if the role of one was simply to encourage or assist.

Day, of Hereson Road, was subsequently found guilty of wounding Mr Hossain with intent to cause grievous bodily harm while Brown, of Tomlin Drive, was convicted of the less serious offence of wounding.

A charge of possessing an offensive weapon faced by Day alone was left on the court file.

Day had refused to leave his prison cell for the verdicts in July, but once back with Brown in the dock at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday (November 26), Judge Mark Weekes heard he had since confessed in a pre-sentence report to the frenzied attack.

Brown had also since admitted "pushing" Mr Hossain, with it being accepted by Judge Mark Weekes that he played no part in the actual stabbing.

But as well as describing Day's admission as "partially tactical", he said the fact they never owned up on arrest to the fact they had left a man "bleeding out" in a dark and isolated location was a "really shocking aspect" of their behaviour.

It was only through the courage and quick-thinking of passer-by George Broadbent that Mr Hossain was found, the emergency services alerted and his life saved.

Although he did not attend the sentencing hearing, statements speaking of the catastrophic consequences of the life-threatening and life-changing attack on him, his wife of 18 years and their children were read out.

Mr Hossain, who now has to walk with a stick or zimmer frame and suffers memory problems and mood swings, wrote: "This incident has changed my life completely and not for the better.

"I remember nothing about what happened to me, which I find particularly disturbing. I have no idea why anyone would do this to me. I'm no threat to anybody."

Of the two men responsible, he added: "Whoever they are, they are pure evil as far as I'm concerned. They have ruined my life and caused a great deal of upset to my family."

The court heard his wife and two of his children, worried that he had not returned home that night, had even gone to the station to look for the "loving, caring, funny" husband and father, only to be met by police and paramedics at the shocking scene.

His sons described feeling as if they have now "lost a large part" of their "very gentle, always laughing" father, who still requires assistance for even basic tasks such as getting out of bed, showering and dressing.

One also spoke of how he suffers flashbacks of the fateful night whenever he has to walk past the alleyway.

Mr Hossain's wife Mamataz Kona said what had happened to her "perfect husband in so many ways" was "senseless and evil".

The court heard violence erupted just before midnight on December 16 last year as Burger King employee Day, together with Brown and a woman called Sophie Judd - who is Day's sister and was at the time Brown's girlfriend - were waiting on the coastbound platform to catch a train.

‘This was an unprovoked, ferocious attack on an unarmed stranger’

They had been in Whitstable earlier that evening so Miss Judd could "fake beg" - pretend to be homeless for money - outside a Sainsbury's store, the court heard.

It was as they were heading home a few hours later that Mr Hossain, who is known as Sharif, had the misfortune to cross paths with them.

Having disembarked from a train onto the London-bound platform he found a phone, which belonged to Miss Judd.

Although Day retrieved it from the waiter without incident, Brown inexplicably hurled a Stella beer can across the tracks and with force at Mr Hossain.

After it landed close to his feet, he chucked it back. But although it did not even reach the opposite platform, it triggered what prosecutor James Harrison had described at their trial as "an almost instant and disproportionate reaction" from the defendants.

The pair turned on their heels out of the station and gave chase, hunting down the fleeing middle-aged man to the alleyway, which leads to Stream Walk, to attack him for what Judge Weekes said was an "utterly trivial perceived slight".

CCTV footage outside the station captured Brown initially running ahead of Day in pursuit of their victim.

While Brown remained out of view of cameras for 25 seconds, Day was not seen for one minute and 45 seconds.

It was during that short time period that the two men erupted in violence.

"This was an unprovoked, ferocious attack on an unarmed stranger," said Mr Harrison, "and, but for the courageous actions of Mr Broadbent, may have resulted in a fatality."

As well as his stab wounds, Mr Hossain - described as an "upstanding member of the local community" and who once owned and ran the Invicta Tandoori in the town - sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Even after months of hospital treatment he was unable to participate in the trial.

With no memory of the attack or even the build-up, all he could provide police with was a statement recalling what he believed had been "just another day" at work.

But extensive CCTV footage and eye-witness accounts pieced together details of the vicious assault for the jury of nine women and three men, enabling them to reach their unanimous verdicts.

The court heard Mr Broadbent was able to locate the seriously injured victim after he had kept watch on and listened to the conversations of Day, Brown and Miss Judd once they had returned to the station.

At one point he heard Brown remarking they would be "done for attempted murder", only for Day to chillingly reply: "No, we are going to get done for murder because we are going to leave him here."

Having helped to save Mr Hossain's life and then bring Day and Brown to justice, the good Samaritan was commended by Judge Weekes at the trial's conclusion for his "extraordinary public-spirited actions and personal bravery" and has now been presented with a High Sheriff of Kent Award of £500 and a certificate.

Mr Hossain was taken to King's College Hospital in London, where he was put into an induced coma and admitted to the intensive care unit.

The jury was told a possible cause of his brain injury was blunt force trauma from being struck with a hard object, being punched or kicked, or falling onto a hard surface.

With Mr Hossain unable to return to work, his colleagues set up an online appeal to raise money for his family and which totalled more than £10,000 after just four weeks.

Sentencing of Day and Brown had been adjourned for reports, including one to assess whether Day was a "dangerous" offender.

Siobhan Molloy, defending Day, said the soon-to-be father came from a "neglectful" background with a history of drug-taking from a young age, having been encouraged to do so by his mother.

He too had been the victim of a "horrendous" stabbing when aged 14, she added, and suffered from PTSD, depression and anxiety.

The court heard he has made two suicide attempts while in custody on remand.

Adam Butler, defending Brown, said he had written a letter to the court acknowledging his wrong-doing.

"He is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life. He is very sorry," said the lawyer.

Brown, who has 19 previous convictions for 27 offences, claimed in court that he never came within two metres of Mr Hossain.

Day, who has eight previous convictions for 19 offences, including nine involving violence and weapons, lied to the court about how he had seen his co-defendant victim stabbing their victim repeatedly as he lay on the ground.

The pair eventually boarded a coastbound train but a brawl soon broke out, resulting in Brown and Miss Judd disembarking before it left the station.

Day however remained onboard and was eventually arrested on his arrival at Margate train station shortly before 1am. He told police he had had a fight with his sister's boyfriend.

Brown was arrested in Whitstable at around 2am, having initially told police at the scene about "a big fight among teens".

The weapon used to stab Mr Hossain was never found and although Miss Judd was interviewed by police, she declined to give a statement and did not give evidence at the trial.

Jailing Day for 14-and-a-half years and Brown for three-and-a-half years, Judge Weekes said: "You pursued him like a pair of jackals, out of the station and into the alleyway. While in the alleyway, you set upon him like jackals.

"Having savagely attacked him, you essentially left him for dead. You returned to the station and once there displayed little or no remorse and, on at least one view, you, Day, appeared to boast about what you had done."

Of their silence on arrest about Mr Hossain's predicament, the judge continued: "This was a really shocking aspect of your behaviour.

"At that point you were aware that your victim may well be bleeding out in the alleyway and yet you did nothing to ensure his safety despite the fact the game was up."

He also said that the long-term changes suffered by Mr Hossain and his family were unlikely to resolve for many months, if not years.

"It is desperately moving to hear that a very gentle and very funny man, always laughing, who enjoyed his job and used to love helping people in the community has been reduced in that way," the judge continued.

"It is heartbreaking to hear that he is incapable of doing most normal things around the house.....He feels he has become a burden."

In reaching his "unhesitating conclusion" that Day was a dangerous offender posing a high risk to the public, Judge Weekes said he had taken account of his "casual and blase attitude" to engaging in unprovoked violence and the injuries caused, as well as the "steep" escalation in his offending.

Furthermore, he said the eventual confession was "partially tactical" and that having lied to the jury over several days while on oath demonstrated "a troubling aspect of concealment and subterfuge".

Imposing what is known as an extended sentence, Day will therefore have to serve at least two-thirds of the jail term before he can apply for parole, and will only be released once it is considered safe to do so.

He will then have an additional three-and-a-half years added to any licence period.

Brown, who the judge said was not the "principal" offender and had shown "belated" insight and remorse, will be released automatically after serving half his jail term.

Day was also handed a consecutive 18-month jail term for two unrelated offences of possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply at Margate train station on March 1 last year.

He was on bail for these offences at the time he attacked Mr Hossain.

Both men were also given indefinite restraining orders banning them from going to his former restaurant where one of his sons now works.

At the end of the sentencing hearing, Judge Weekes once again acknowledged Mr Broadbent's actions.

"There are many people who, in his position, would have chosen to look the other way and pretend they could not help or simply ignored it," he told the court.

"Instead, he screwed his courage to the sticking place and ventured into the dark and unknown to do what he did.

"It is no exaggeration to say he almost certainly saved Mr Hossain's life.”