A THUG who savagely attacked a former neighbour with a sword has been jailed for 10 years.

Christopher Ward was found guilty of attempting to murder Stephen Clark.

Mr Clark, 27, from Wemyss Bay, told the High Court at Paisley he was attacked by thugs and left for dead in Nile Street, Greenock.

A thumb and finger end were cut off and his left hand was almost severed as he frantically tried to protect himself.

Surgeons battled to re-build his arm and were able to restore partial use of the limb.

But giving evidence against Ward, 25, he said: "I'm basically crippled and have lost the control of my left hand.

"It has wrecked my life I've lost my girlfriend through it and I have had to see a psychologist.

"I have not been able to go back to work and am on anti-depressants."

The call centre worker was attacked after a friend he was walking with exchanged words with another man.

Within seconds, Mr Clark found himself being "hacked at" with a machete. Knocked to the ground, he was punched and kicked relentlessly.

When he opened his eyes he saw Ward swinging a sword at him.

As he raised his right arm to deflect the blow, it hacked into his hand.

He suffered four or five more blows before lapsing into unconsciousness.

The assault lasted five minutes as up to five thugs rained blows onto his body and head.

He regained consciousness as one attacker urged the others to leave with the chilling words: "Come on, he's deid."

He said he thought he was going to die.

As he lay bleeding heavily in the street, a taxi driver stopped and called for an ambulance.

The court heard he was stunned when detectives put Ward's name to the picture he had selected from photos of possible suspects.

Mr Clark said: "We knew each other when we were toddlers and stayed next door to each other. I hadn't seen him for 14 years."

Ward, who was jailed for serious assault in 2002, denied an attempted murder charge but was convicted by a jury.