A violent repeat offender has been convicted of stabbing a man to enforce a drug debt.

Donovan Kitching’s victim was lured by a co-accused to the Cinder Path in Douglas on the pretext of doing a drug deal.

He was stabbed and slashed by a masked attacker dressed all in black who he recognised as the defendant he had first met in prison a decade earlier.

Kitching, 40, shouted ‘Yous are all rats!’ as he was led away to the cells after the seven-strong jury delivered its unanimously verdict to the single charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Jurors heard he had multiple previous convictions for violence including ABH, assaulting police and an aggravated burglary and robbery which was committed using a knife.

The Court of General Gaol Delivery was told that the victim had known Kitching from his time in prison from 2014 and they were initially close.

But the relationship soured when the defendant started accusing of him being a ‘grass’ after Kitching was caught with a mobile phone in his cell.

The victim, who was giving his evidence behind a screen in court, said he had had to change prison wings because the defendant was threatening him.

Jurors heard threats were made over a £10,000 drug debt with the victim told he had to come up with a payment plan or there would be ‘consequences’.

In the early evening of August 19 last year, the victim agreed to meet with an acquaintance Michael Glover on the Cinder Path off Peel Road, Douglas, to buy some cannabis.

He described the other man’s demeanor as ‘dodgy’ and he started to become suspicious.

‘I knew something was wrong,’ he told the jury.

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a masked man an arm’s length away wielding some sort of implement and swinging at his head with his arm. He put up his hand to defend himself and was struck around his ear and his hand.

He described the attacker as wearing a ski-type mask and he could see his eyes, nose and top of their mouth - and immediately recognised him as the defendant.

He said he had no doubt that the person who attacked him was the defendant, telling the jury: ‘If you know someone, you know them.’

The victim said he fled down the path, pursued by Kitching.

His attacker slipped and stopped chasing him and reaching Ballkakermeen Road, he spotted an open garage door and ran into the first property he could. The occupants were unknown to him. There he rang his dad to tell him he had been stabbed.

His father told the jury that he arrived at the house to find his son with a towel to his head and covered in blood. He said the occupier was hysterical.

The victim sustained a 4cm deep cut to his left hand which required six stitches and also a 1.5cm wound to his head by his ear.

Michael Glover has previously been convicted for his part in the attack. He will be sentenced at the same time as Kitching. He denies knowing that his co-accused was going to bring a weapon.

Jurors heard that messages to the defendant recovered from Glover’s mobile phone talked about someone ‘putting a grand’ on the victim.

‘Time and place mate, we’ll just go and do it - let’s go and smash his head in mate,’ one message read.

The court heard that the police recovered clothing from the laundry in the block of flats where Kitching lived on Central Promenade, Douglas. They had been washed and placed on top of the washing machine.

There was no blood found on the clothes and none were tested forensically, except a black glove which was found to have no DNA or other links to the offence.

Taking the stand on the second day of his trial, Kitching admitted having spent a significant amount of time in prison and of having a ‘reputation’.

He said he was ‘ashamed’ of his previous conviction for robbery.

Kitching accused his victim of lying and denied carrying out the attack on the Cinder Path.

He insisted he’d had no issues or a grudge against his victim and there had been no vendetta.

The jury, however, saw through his lies and delivered their unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for around two hours.

Sentencing of both Kitching and Glover will take place on August 6. They have both been remanded in custody.

Appearing in court via video link on Friday when a sentencing date was fixed, Kitching said he had sacked his advocate and would be filing for a mis-trial.

The jury were not told that Kitching had been jailed for 10 years in 2014 after being convicted of death by dangerous driving.

Just three weeks after being released early on parole from his six year sentence for aggravated burglary and robbery, he knocked down and killed a pedestrian on the Tholt-y-Will Road.