A man convicted for carrying out a vicious machete attack which left the victim maimed appealed his conviction yesterday as his legal team claimed the judge should have ordered a mistrial.

Harron Lee Powell Evans, of Mouth Hill Mews, Pembroke, and Akono Shakir Parsons, of Two Way Lane, Pembroke, were found guilty by a unanimous jury November 2006 of wounding Kuma Smith with intent to do him grievous bodily harm. Parsons did not appeal his conviction. Mr. Smith had his finger chopped off and was sliced with a machete and hoe after being ambushed in broad daylight in Devonshire on January 5, 2005.

Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller sentenced the pair to five years imprisonment for the wounding conviction and a further 18-month jail terms, Evans for wilful damage and possessing an offensive weapon and Parsons for possessing an offensive weapon and common assault, to run concurrently.

Evans' lawyer, Victoria Pearman, argued at the appeal hearing in Supreme Court yesterday it was a case of mistaken identity and her client was not involved in the attack.

She said Mr. Smith said the men came chasing him down Deepdale on bikes without helmets while two other witnesses say the men had on helmets making them unrecognisable.

Another witness called Mia Simons said the men ran down the hill but was only able to describe what Parsons had on. She said she saw Evans profile but couldn't give anymore information. Ms Pearman said there were many "weaknesses" in the prosecution's case including how well Mr. Smith said he knew Evans.

On the stand, Mr. Smith claimed he knew the defendant for ten or more years from living in St. George's but was unable to say what primary school or high school he attended.

Ms Pearman said Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller should have discharged the jury because Mr. Smith disclosed on the stand he had "done time" with the defendant in an effort to explain how well he knew him bringing up previous convictions including a staged bank robbery after questioning from the defence.

Evans took part in the robbery of a bank van in 1995 and was sentenced in 1997. Mr. Smith admitted on the stand he could have been in remand while Evans was in maximum but later admitted he didn't know if they were in the same facility.

Mr. Smith was jailed in January and February 1998. Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller said because the defence brought up the subject, they had to deal with what came out of it.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Rory Field, argued there shouldn't have been a mistrial because if mistrials always happened, trials would never finish and defendants would never be convicted.

The panel of three court of appeals judges will give their ruling at a later date.