The mum of a teenager stabbed in Redhill is glad his "very dangerous" attacker is off the streets after he was given a lengthy jail term.

Mother-of-six Zara Hayes, 47, of Arnold, welcomed the sentenced imposed on Joseph Lubasi who plunged a steak knife into her son after he accused him of being cheeky.

After major surgery to his liver, pancreas, small bowel and the top of his intestine following the attack, her son, Ross Hedley, is now trying to piece his life back together after the devastating knifing on May 25 last year.

Lubasi, 24, of Redhill Road, Redhill, was today given a ten-year extended determinate sentence for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Hedley - which means he will serve seven years in custody and three years on extended licence.

A two-year prison sentence was given concurrently for possessing the knife he used.

And the three-times convicted robber was given a prison sentence of three years consecutively for robbing a student in the city centre on October 22, 2017.

After he was bailed over that mugging, he was jailed on January 30 last year and later released on licence for a separate offence of possessing a bladed article.

Months later, on May 25, he attacked Mr Hedley, then aged just 17, causing life-changing injuries.

Since then his mum has devoted her time to educating young people about knife crime and is an assistant producer for an educational play going into schools called "Double Edge". One day they hope to take their message through theatre to Westminster.

Speaking today, Miss Hayes said she agreed with the judge's sentence and the extended licence for a man she said is "very dangerous".

"I'm glad he's off the streets", she revealed.

Before the attack, in Mansfield Road, her son was cocky. Now his "confidence is really wracked", she said.

Ross Hedley on a shopping trip with mum Zara Hayes after being sent home

"When this happened to him, it really, really knocked him. Now he is trying to fit in again.

"He wasn't expected to survive. Luck was on his side that day".

Mr Hedley, now 18, was rushed to the Queen's Medical Centre. Miss Hayes ran with him on a trolley to theatre as he was taken into surgery.

"I was holding his hand," she remembered. "I gave him a kiss goodnight and let him go. I thought I'd never see him again".

Joseph Lubasi
Joseph Lubasi

Surgery has left him with a 35-centimetre scar - a timely reminder of what happened to him that day - when the court heard how the two men fell out, with Lubasi accusing him of being cheeky.

Lubasi went to the kitchen, then invited him outside. Student Mr Hedley held his hand out for the defendant to shake to calm matters down.

"The complainant and the defendant walked towards a car rental place," said Sarah Gaunt, prosecuting.

"The complainant saw the defendant draw a knife from his top; a steak knife with a brown handle. He thrust that knife at the complainant".

Mr Hedley ran and collapsed in Mansfield Road where a friend used a T-shirt to stop the bleeding to two stab wounds.

Judge Gregory Dickinson QC told Lubasi: "So many of the murder cases we deal with at this court involve people doing no more or less than what you did in this case, and somebody dies".

Earlier, the judge referred to "the concern in this city and county and elsewhere to the prevalence of the use of knives in public places".

Mitigating, David Morton said Lubasi is of "good stock" - his brother is a successful accountant in France and his older sister is a qualified lawyer in Africa.

"He is a man who has succeeded historically. He got nine GCSEs and began further education".

Now he plans to take up studying again and do an Open University course in prison.