HEROIC ex-cop Martin Thompson has told how he and his son were knifed on their doorstep as they fought off an armed gang seeking revenge on another youth who sought refuge in their home.

Brave Mr Thompson, a former officer with West Midlands Police, said the terrified teenager hammered on his front door in West Heath at about 10pm on Saturday night.

He said he was trying to escape from three teenagers.

But after the youth took sanctuary, his pursuers turned on him and his 18-year-old son Edward, who suffered serious stab wounds trying to fend them off.

Mr Thompson, aged 53, said: “It was just a quiet night in – I had just finished watching the rugby highlights.

“I heard this kerfuffle outside and there was banging on my door. A youth came running into the house, shouting, ‘shut the door, they’re going to stab me’.

“He was obviously terrified.

“Then three black people came to the top of the drive, and I said, ‘he’s in with me now, go away’.

“But they said, ‘no, they’re coming for him, they want to stab him because he has threatened to stab someone else.’”

Mr Thompson said he was pushed out of the way before the youths started attacking him.

“The boy obviously knew they had knives. I didn’t know they had got knives. I never saw one. I thought I was being punched down my left side,” he said.

Mr Thompson suffered stab wounds to his ear, neck, shoulder and his hip as his son Edward rushed to help him.