A pair of young thugs have been jailed for cutting the throat of a neighbour who went to complain about their anti-social behaviour.

Shaun Coles and Aaron Robinson armed themselves with knives when a group of angry residents gathered outside their home in Chudleigh to confront them about a series of drunken incidents.

They attacked neighbour Michael Cawley, who had come out of his home to try to calm the situation, but was slashed across the throat as he stood by his gate, causing a wound which narrowly missed his jugular.

Coles, aged 23, formerly of Oldway, Chudleigh, now of Gypsy Lane, Buckfastleigh, denied grievous bodily harm but was convicted at a trial last month.

He also admitted another wounding in Chudleigh two weeks before this incident in which he smashed a vodka bottle over the head of a pub customer during a street fight.

Robinson, aged 20, of Furlong Close, Buckfastleigh, denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent and affray but was convicted of both.

Coles was jailed for three and a half years and Robinson for six, which he will serve in a young offenders' institution.