A man has been jailed for 15 years after burgling a home and assaulting a man and his son, who received life threatening injuries.

Linford Smith, 25, of Mardell Road in south London, forcibly entered a home in Barnet with a groups of others in November 2015 while the family were inside.

The court heard Smith and the other suspects violently attacked a father and son, as well as inflicting minor injuries on other family members.

The father was stabbed in the face and pistol whipped while his son was stabbed in the neck and suffered a fractured skull.

The incident lasted 18 seconds and the group left the property without managing to steal anything, but Smith was linked to the attack by forensics and automated number plat recognition (ANPR), the court heard.

DC Emma Haughey from Barnet CID said: "Linford Smith and his associates are dangerous individuals who did not hesitate to use violence on the family.

"I hope the sentence passed down serves as a comfort to the victims of this serious crime who were left traumatised by the incident and will now be able to start moving on with their lives."

The victims were treated at the scene and in a nearby hospital.

Smith was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Monday after pleading not guilty to the offence in November 2015.