A Wiltshire paramedic supporting Operation Sceptre, the county's knife crime awareness campaign, has been speaking about the horrific scene he witnessed when a man who had been stabbed was left bleeding on a pub floor.

David Inglis was working as a front line paramedic in London at the time he responded to a stabbing in a pub in the capital.

David was the first medic to arrive at the scene to treat the man who had suffered two stab wounds – one in his chest and one just below.

He was soon joined by a former army surgeon, from the local air ambulance, who performed open surgery on the wounded man on the floor of the pub to stop some of the bleeding.

The victim was then taken to hospital for further surgery but sadly died a few hours later.

David said: “This man died despite the best medical care he could have been given in what were terrible circumstances.

“Even with the best care in the world – this man’s life couldn’t be saved. I still, to this day, remember the cries and screams from that man’s family and friends as they watched him dying on a pub floor.”

The Op Sceptre knife crime awareness campaign and amnesty is running until the end of today with amnesty bins at 13 locations across the county.

David said: “Knife crime prevention is certainly better than cure. If someone is stabbed no-one knows what the outcome will be and whether or not that person will survive.

“If you are stabbed with a knife, the chances of you dying or being seriously injured are extremely high. You rarely meet a living stab victim who doesn’t have long-lasting injuries.”