TWO men have been jailed for a total of 40 years for attempted murder after a "brutal and sustained attack" which left their victim fighting for life.

A man in his 30s had been walking along Wimbish End, Pitsea, towards Chalvedon shops at around 3.50pm on February 16, 2021, when he recognised a group of men he knew.

The man had recently had issues with the group and attempted to get away from the area but was chased up Mill Green, and towards Ashlyns.

Stopping in a small car park off Mill Green he was attacked, stabbed by one of the members under the armpit with a Rambo knife.

The rest of the group then joined in the attack, before walking off – leaving the victim lying on the floor with serious injuries.

In total the victim sustained eight wounds to various parts of the body and the injuries he had been left with were described as life-threatening.

The attack was investigated, and it later led to the arrest of the three men who were subsequently charged and convicted.

On Thursday, they were sentenced at Basildon Crown Court.

Jordan Yakulu, 24, of Moretons, Pitsea, was jailed for 19 years and Jay Silver, 22, of Merrivale, Benfleet was jailed for 21 years.

A third man, Trenton Best, 19, of Ayletts, Basildon – was jailed for four years for causing GBH with intent.

Det Insp Stewart Eastbrook, from Basildon Criminal Investigation Department, said: “This was brutal and sustained attack which left a man fighting for his life.

“Jay Silver and Jordan Yakulu attacked him with such ferocity that he could easily have died.

“Along with Trenton Best, they pose a very real danger to the public and I am pleased they will be spending the foreseeable future behind bars thanks to our work, in particular DC Bryony Harrison.

“Tackling violent crime is a priority for Essex Police and we are seeing the work we’re doing in this area pay off.

“Across the county we’ve seen nearly 150 fewer knife-enabled crimes – that’s a fall of nearly nine percent.

“Here in Basildon, knife-enabled crime is down by 25 percent which is 64 fewer offences.

“Across Essex we’ve also seen nearly 1,400 fewer incidents of the most serious violence, with 126 fewer incidents in Basildon.

“The work we’re doing is making the county safer and bringing violent criminals like Silver, Yakulu, and Best to justice is part of that.”