Gallacher (38) has now been jailed for 10 years for the attack at the High Court in Edinburgh last week.

Gavin said he is still struggling to put his life together after the assault, which has left him wary of strangers and crowds.

Girlfriend Sara Moreland (30), who witnessed the attack, had to be hospitalised with post-traumatic stress as a result and still takes medication to cope with her anxiety.

Gavin said, “We don’t like to go out anymore and I can’t go back to the flat. It’s the scene of my worst nightmare. There’s still blood on the walls.”

The horror began when Gavin returned home with hairdresser girlfriend Sara and pal Niki Walker.

He said, “Gallacher knocked at the door asking for money. He hadn’t paid me back from before so I told him through the door that I wouldn’t give him any.

“He asked me calmly to open the door and when I did he just started stabbing me without saying a word.”

Gallacher launched a frenzied two-handed attack on Gavin, watched by the terrified women. Gavin found out later that the weapon had been the same one Gallacher had used to cut his dinner.

Sara, “I was at the door behind him and I saw the whole thing.

“He just burst in and started stabbing him. I didn’t know what to do, I was on crutches at the time.”

At first Gavin didn’t realise the scale of the attack.

He said, “I thought I’d been punched. There was no coming back from it and I was winded.

“We fell into the house and when I was hit for the third time I saw metal and realised what was happening.

“There were seven puncture wounds but I could have been hit more than 20 times. When I fell and was losing consciousness I looked at him and I heard Sara scream, ‘You’re going to kill him.’ ”

Sara’s friend Niki ran into the hall and screamed, startling Gallacher who ran off.

Gavin was rushed to Ninewells Hospital where doctors feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.

He said, “I’ve been told it was life and death.

“The police phoned my mum and told her to get to the hospital as soon as she could because she might not see me again.”

Gavin said he still suffers pain and bladder problems as a result of the attack and had to give up a part-time job at Scott Fyffe Motors.

Gavin attended the trial, although he was not there to see Gallacher sentenced. He believes his attacker has no remorse for what he did.

“I think he got everything he deserved. At the trial, I couldn’t stop looking at him but he wouldn’t look at me. He wasn’t sorry. The eyes can tell a million stories.”