A teenager was left in a pool of blood after he was slashed with a samurai sword in an attack by two shopkeepers.

Angelo Lazarus and Rakakaran Thurairajah attacked Leon Whyborne, 18, wrongly suspecting him of setting fire to their shop.

One of them lashed out with the 18in blade.

It sliced Mr Whyborne's flesh, leaving half his hand hanging off.

He was saved by a passer-by who gave him first aid until an ambulance crew arrived.

Lazarus and Thurairajah cornered Mr Whyborne after chasing youths who had set fire to newspapers in a rack outside their Londis store in Ninfield Road, Bexhill, in the early hours of October 11 last year.

The weapon, still smeared in the victim's blood, was recovered that night from their flat opposite the store.

Mr Whyborne had been with the group at one stage but had played no part in setting the shop on fire.

The attack left him so severely injured he will never regain full use of his left hand.

Sri Lankan national Lazarus, 22, of Ninfield Road, Bexhill, was yesterday jailed for 21 months at Hove Crown Court for wounding Mr Whyborne.

He was convicted of the offence after being cleared of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at his trial in March.

The jury had been unable to decide exactly who inflicted the injuries.

Thurairajah, 29, of the same address, admitted wounding and will be sentenced next month.

Michael Smith, defending, had earlier said Lazarus had always denied he was the one who carried the sword.

Mr Smith said: "He has not expressed remorse because he maintains he was not responsible for those injuries.

"However, he is deeply saddened and regretful of the injuries."

The victim's mother Paula Whyborne, 40, of Meadow Crescent, Bexhill, said her son would never be able to return to his job with a construction firm.

She said: "Leon can hardly use his hand at all now and probably never will.

"I have to do almost everything for him. At the moment he can't feel a thing and would not be able to tell if he was being burnt if he picked up something hot with his left hand.

"He still has flashbacks and could not face coming to court to see his attackers sentenced."