A FORMER Winchester mayor was brutally stabbed ten times by his former gardener who broke into the property to steal money for drugs, a court heard.

Police discovered 74-year-old Chris Pines in his dressing gown ‘covered in blood’ after Andrew Richardson, 24, smashed his way into his house and attacked him with a six-inch kitchen knife.

After the attack, Mr Pines, of Lower Stanmore Lane, realised he recognised Richardson as the man he had previously employed for odd jobs and gardening.

Winchester Crown Court heard police were called to the home at 2.36am on November 29, and found broken glass in the porch, along with a mallet.

The court heard Richardson planned to steal from Mr Pines, a former deputy head at Winnall Primary School, to fund his drug addiction.

Prosecutor Tim Compton said: “[Mr Pines] had been asleep and was woken by the sound of banging outside.

“He’d gone to the door, opened the front door and and called out ‘what’s going on?’

“The intruder rushed at him from the left and attacked him.”

He added: “There were three stab wounds to the buttocks, superficial injury to the right thigh, two stab wounds to the left knee.. Stabs to the neck, thorax and abdomen.”

Mr Compton said Mr Pines needed two and a half hours of surgery for the wounds, and also lost a tooth from a punch.

The court heard in a police interview, Richardson claimed he was ‘bundled’ into the back of a car and instructed to rob Mr Pines’ house by a group of men, however the defence did not use this story.

Defence barrister Adrian Fleming said he had a statement from Mr Pines claiming there was ‘another side’ to Richardson.

He said: “This was simply a robbery gone badly wrong. He is a young man of many difficulties.

“[Mr Pines describes him as] a young man with a promising future, if given the help he requires.”

Sentencing Richardson to 10 years in jail, Judge Keith Cutler said: “I do agree there are two sides to this but I’m concerned about the side you have presented on this night.”

Former Labour councillor Mr Pines served at Winchester City Council from May 1980 in the ward of St John and All Saints. He was made the 808th Mayor of Winchester in May 2007.

Richardson, of Portal Road, Highcliffe, admitted wounding with intent, possession of a bladed article and possession of an offensive weapon.