'I saw the knife coming for my chest'

7:32am Thursday 6th March 2008

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A MAN was left with stab wounds after being attacked by two men who were angered by his puppy approaching them.

John Riggs, 22, was out walking his eight-month-old Labrador puppy in Hillingdon House Farm sports ground, off North Way, in Uxbridge.

John, of Gossage Road, said: "I was just walking along the path with Max off the lead when he ran up to two people and put his paw on the foot of the black man.

"He gets excited when he sees new people and that's all he did. I apologised but he said to me: Don't put your dog on me'.

"I said sorry and I put Max back on his lead and walked off.

"The next thing I knew I was hit on the back of the head. I fell to the ground and was slashed in the leg with a knife.

"I saw the knife coming for my chest and I put my hands in the way and I got stabbed in my hand.

"I couldn't move or get up and they kept booting me in the back of the head and in my face."

John, a gunner based at RAF Uxbridge, returned from Afghanistan on February 10.

He added: "I don't understand why this happened, I didn't say anything to them, I apologised for what Max did, which was nothing really.

"It was something I just wasn't expecting, I can't even think what was going through my head at the time, it seemed to happen so fast.

"I always walk Max there but it was the first time I went there when it was dark.

"I'd rather it was me than my wife, I have told her not to walk the dog there in the evening because it isn't safe.

"I can't remember anyone else being there but if there was I hope they'll come forward. They might have seen something and ran away because they felt scared."

John received bruising to the face and ribs, five stitches to his leg, stitches to the hand and loss of sensation in his left hand.

One of the men was a light-skinned Afro Caribbean in his early 20s, 6ft 1 ins tall, of medium build and was wearing a dark hooded top, combat trousers, a scarf, with a Caribbean accent.

The other man was also in his early 20s, described as white, with a medium build, with a black eye, wearing a dark hooded top, dark bottoms, with a dark-coloured scarf.

Detective Chief Ben Prescott, said: "This is a serious incident and police are urgently trying to trace any witnesses to this offence."

Anyone with information can call DC Prescott at Uxbridge Police Station on 0208 246 1447 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.