Two men have been jailed after they took part in a stabbing with a machete that left the victim still needing a ventilator since last summer.

Douglas Sepouo, 21, who was stabbed on July 9, 2019, remains in hospital on a ventilator and requiring food through a tube due to the incident.

Although he is now able to open his eyes, he does not interact or communicate with people.

Keiano Gooden-Joseph, 19, of Harrow Road was sentenced to thirteen years’ imprisonment for wounding with intent, and 18 months for possessing a knife.

A 17-year-old, from Harrow, was jailed for 11 years for the same offences, but he did not have a separate penalty for the knife charge.

The court heard how on the day of the attack at around 1.35pm, Gooden-Joseph arrived at South Kenton station and joined by the other attacker at Windemere Grove.

Mr Sepouo had entered Allonby Gardens shortly after at 2.37pm and was followed by the two men who were armed with machete type knives, all the way to Preston Park.

The two then attacked Mr Sepouo who was seen by witnesses desperately trying to fdefend himself.

A witness told police they “hacked” at Mr Sepouo, with one of them stabbing him in the chest with a machete, and another witness said how Mr Sepouo was just shielding himself, screaming and crying out for help.

A member of the public intervened with the attack as he shouted for them to stop, causing the two attackers to run away.

When officers were called, they saw the 17-year-old running towards them in Carlton Avenue East, and police saw he had a cut to his right arm.

The attacker was treated at hospital, and then arrested on suspicion of causing great bodily harm.

Mr Sepouo was in a very serious condition and the medical staff had to open his chest at the scene to restore his heartbeat to normal.

He was taken to a central London hospital in a critical condition, where he was treated for numerous injuries, including defensive wounds to his hands.

However, because of the low blood pressure and cardiac arrest, he had suffered brain injury from which he will never fully recover.

Officers conducted a search of the park and one machete was located which had apparently been carried by Mr Sepouo.

Two machete sheaths were found, indicating that at least one further weapon had been removed from the park.

Gooden-Josephs was identified through CCTV inquiries as a suspect and was traced to a taxi travelling in NW7 and arrested on July 16, 2019.

Detective Inspector Jamie Stevenson from Specialist Crime North, said: “This appalling attack has left a young man with catastrophic injuries from which he will not ever fully recover.

“His family have been left devastated and struggling to come to terms with the reality of Douglas’ injuries; I can only hope that the conviction of the persons responsible will help them in some small way.

“This savage attack occurred in a park being used by young families. Instead of playing on a summer’s day, families had to deal with a man being pursued and repeatedly stabbed.

“I would like to thank all those members of the public who went to Douglas’ aid and tried to help him.

“We need the support of our communities to tackle violent crime and we urge anyone who may have information about those carrying weapons to tell us about it, so we can tackle violence together and protect the lives of young people.”