'I was walking my dog when I was stabbed by balaclava-clad gang'

A man claims he had to defend himself with a javelin after being chased and stabbed by balaclava-clad gang as he was walking his dog.

Liam Canavan was walking his Jack Russell, Blue, when he saw a group of between four and six men, dressed in black, who he claims had smashed a window of a block of flats on Kingham Close in Wirral.

When he approached them asking them to leave the area at around 3am on Saturday, July 13, Liam said he was met with aggression before a fight broke out on the street. Liam said as he tried to defend himself against one of the men, he quickly saw an object coming towards his face, so he raised his arm before he was slashed with a knife, the Liverpool Echo reports.

After realising there was blood dripping down his arm, the 28-year-old sprinted back towards his block of flats from the alley next to a children's playground at the end of the close. As he ran into the building, Liam said the balaclava-clad youths followed him and tried to kick the door open.

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Liam, who cares for his dad in their flat on Kingham Close, said: "I don't think all of it has kicked in, to be honest. I've only just got home from the hospital where they've put some stitches in my arm. I had to defend myself with a javelin my dad brought downstairs, they tried to kick the door in after they chased me."

Liam claims he used the javelin to bat the group away as they tried to gain entry to the building. He added: "I asked the man whose window they smashed and he doesn't know who they are so they've stabbed me and chased me."

After the altercation, neighbours began to appear and the group ran off towards Cameron Road before