A teenage knife thug who stabbed a man through the heart, leaving him in a year-long coma, before posting a drill rap bragging about it was jailed for 14 years.

Joshua Erorh, 18, of Courtney Road, Grays,  stabbed 21-year-old Ahmad Torfi twice in the chest outside a takeaway in New Cross, south east London, on March 24 last year. The victim remains unconscious in hospital.

Erorh was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, in November.

A court today heard how Erorh, then 17 and linked to the notorious 814 gang, targeted Torfi because of his ties to the rival Monson gang.

Paramedics were forced to perform open heart surgery on Mr Torfi as he lay on the pavement. His heart stopped beating and, as a result, his brain was starved of oxygen - leading to permanent brain damage.

Months after the attack, Mr Torfi's condition was still described as "life threatening."

Today, Erorh - who raps under the name Lil Mdot - was handed a sentence of 14 years behind bars. He must serve at least six years and eight months before being considered for parole.

A judge rejected pleas from his barrister, Jennifer Dempster QC, to limit the sentence because, she claimed, he was a good prospect for rehabilitation due to his budding music career - being "literally on there verge of signing with Universal Records" before the attack.

The court also heard how he had given evidence in a 2016 trial following the killing of his rapper pal Myron Yarde, who performed as Mdot, and was later stabbed nine times in a revenge attack for his co-operation with police.

But Judge John Lodge rejected her pleas.

Addressing Erorh, who stood in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit, he said: "Ahmad Torfi suffered traumatic injuries, stab wounds you inflicted caused his heart to stop beating.

"By the time his heart was able, with medical assistance to be restarted, irreparable brain damage had occurred.

"I am acutely conscious that no sentence I impose can bring that young man back to health. I am equally very conscious that any sentence which I impose will appear inadequate to his family.

"Yet again, this court has to deal with offences arising out of gang membership or gang loyalty.

"You were a member of, or very closely associated with, the 814 gang. Ahamad Torfi was a member of, or very closely associated with, the Monson gang.

"You are only 18, 17 at the time of this attack. Your life has been affected by that gang involvement for years. You saw a senior member of the gang with whom you are associated and whom you looked up to murdered.

"You gave evidence at the following trial and as a result of that you were stabbed. The authorities, it might be said perfectly sensibly, moved you away from the area because this was a geographical gang feud - a turf war.

"That didn't stop you from engaging in social media disputes with members of the other gang, that did not stop you, on the night of this attack, returning to the area.

"I am quite satisfied that this was not a planned gang attack, I am satisfied that you, having returned to the area, went to After Hours restaurant, a place with no gang affiliation, a place accepted as a neutral venue for food.

"Starting in the restaurant, spilling out onto the street, there was an attack by you in which you stabbed him in the chest twice.

"This was done in public in a busy street in the presence of what in the course of the trail chillingly described as 'civilians'.

"I reject any suggestion that you disarmed him before stabbing him with his knife. I am satisfied you had the knife with you, it may well be that you were carrying that knife for protection rather than intending to use it in an aggressive manner unless it became necessary to do so.

"That is how so many of the cases that come before the courts. You got away from the scene not being arrested until some days later.

"In the time before your arrest you callously prepared a drill rap boasting of what you had done, which you or other uploaded onto the internet.

"Should have been dead but you pulled through fighting, blue tape it was done by me, I put A in the A&E. Anything less demonstrative of remorse is hard to imagine."

Judge Lodge decided the attack crossed the threshold for an extended sentence as Erorh posed a "significant risk."

He added: "I accept in the period of time you have spent in custody you may have changed that view, you may have looked back, and you may be feeling some remorse for what you have done.

"I consider that your gang background combined with your continued willingness to carry out gang activity, your willingness to return to the area, and your willingness to carry weapons and, as tragically occurred here, to use those weapons demonstrates that significant risk."

During a trial a jury heard how the victim's brother tried to stop the fight but Erorh fled, taking the knife with him but leaving behind a blue bike he arrived on.

Unaware of how severe his injuries were, the Mr Torfi chased Erorh but soon after collapsed and was driven to hospital by his brother.

The pair were stopped by a patrol car on Friendly Street in Deptford at around 11:55pm as the victim's brother was driving erratically.

Officers administered first aid to the victim in the back seat of the car while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.

Paramedics performed emergency open heart surgery on the Mr Tofri at the side of the road before being taken to hospital for further treatment.

The court today heard how after the attack the teenager recorded a drill track "boasting" about the attack with the lyrics: "Should have been dead but you pulled through fighting, blue tape it was done by me, I put A in the A&E."

Erorh, of South Essex, was arrested on March 25 after an investigation by police involving CCTV and mobile phone analysis linked him to the scene of the crime.

A jury at Kingston Crown Court found Erorh guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on 30 November but cleared him of attempted murder.