A jealous man has been jailed for 16-and-a-half years for trying to kill a love rival, a court has heard.

Clayton Perfect repeatedly threatened to kill a 23-year-old man and his brother, aged 25, during a bust-up in Hoo, near Rochester.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Perfect, 22, armed himself with a knife when he feared his girlfriend had been cheating on him with the 23-year-old.

He barged past the older brother, and inside their caravan, then assaulted the youngest brother after finding him hiding in a bedroom on the morning of October 4 last year.

Perfect, of Charter Street, Gillingham, later claimed he had armed himself with just a set of keys to defend himself - the victims received superficial injuries.

But he later admitted the attempted murder of the 23-year-old and wounding the 25-year-old with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

Judge Julian Smith told the father-of-one his attacks on the brothers were of 'real ferocity and determination'.

He added: "You entered that caravan armed, forced your way past your intended victim's brother, and attacked him with clear intention and a level of determination which was only frustrated by the exceptional efforts of his brother."

Prosecutor Edmund Fowler told how the 25-year-old had been sleeping on a sofa when he was woken by shouting and banging at the front door and saw Perfect in front of him.

Perfect was grasping a knife and demanding to know where his girlfriend was.

The older brother tried to grab him as he shouted, and after finding the younger brother hiding under a bed demanded to know if he had slept with Perfect's partner.

Mr Fowler added: "He then set about him, punching him repeatedly and shouting 'I'm going to kill you'.

"The blade embedded itself in a wall and the handle broke..."

"He then raised the knife and swiped it, slashing him around the neck. [The older brother] was trying to get the defendant away from his brother but was slashed across the chest.

"Perfect kept shouting he would kill them and lunged towards [the victim]. But the blade embedded itself in a wall and the handle broke.

"He then went into the kitchen, grabbed another knife and went back towards the bedroom. [The older brother] tried to stop him but this time was slashed to his bicep."

The ex-window fitter fled after being forced out of the caravan and called his parents just as they were being questioned by police.

But Ian Dear, defending, said Perfect, who suffers from ADHD and Asperger's, was no longer the "wild man" and believed prison to be "the best thing to happen" to him.

"For the first time in his life, instead of receiving a kicking - because that's what life has done to him - he is in a position to help people," Mr Dear told the court.

After sentencing, PC Lucas Melella said: "This was a vicious assault which left two victims with serious injuries and it was only sheer luck that this incident didn’t lead to a murder investigation.

"Tackling knife crime is a priority for Kent Police and this sentence will hopefully serve as reassurance to the public that serious assaults will be investigated diligently and result in custodial sentences."

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