A court has heard claims three men cut down a 21-year-old with an axe, a machete and a five-inch knife on the driveway of his family home.

Three men are charged with the attempted murder of Araventham Puventhiran, causing him grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing offensive weapons after the attack in Stoneleigh Avenue, Worcester Park, on July 22 last year.

Jeyarasingham Silambarasan, 27, of Fernlea Road, Mitcham, is charged with possessing an axe, Sinduyan Aurulselvem, 26, of Whitnell Way, Putney, is charged with possessing a machete and Elanseran Balasingham, 23, of Helmsdale Road, Lambeth, is charged with possessing a five-inch kitchen knife.

All three men have denied all charges.

Mr Puventhiran, who gave evidence at Kingston Crown Court from behind a curtain, said he was attacked from behind as he walked towards his house, after parking his car on his driveway at around 1.30am.

He described hearing a noise behind him, and as he turned around Mr Silambarasan struck him in the back of the head with an axe, he said.

He said he was then hit in the face with a machete by Mr Aurulselvem seconds later.

As he reeled from the machete hit, which injured his jaw and neck on the left side and split his ear lobe in half, he said that Mr Silambarasan attacked him again with the axe.

Mr Puventhiran said: "I realised it was dangerous. I had been hit three times and I got scared."

He managed to reach the door of his porch, before being hit again repeatedly by both the axe and machete, he said.

As he tried to shut the door of the porch to keep out his attackers, Mr Puventhiran alleged that Mr Balasingham appeared with a five inch knife and began stabbing his arm.

Mr Puventhiran also accused Mr Silambarasan of hacking his arm, saying: "He managed to axe me three or four times in the same space on my elbow. I thought I was going to lose my arm because it was quite a deep cut.

"I could feel the blood dripping down."

Mr Puventhiran said he managed to close the door of the porch, and began banging on his front door for his parents.

He said Mr Silambarasan used the axe to smash the glass porch door and tried to come in, and he had to kick him in the chest to keep him away.

He added that when the attackers heard his parents coming they ran away, with Mr Aurulselvem throwing a rock through his car windscreen.

Mr Puventhiran said: "The whole thing lasted two to three minutes. It happened really quickly and their weapons were really sharp.

"I was wearing a shirt with a T-shirt underneath and a hoody. It went through all of that. My clothes were all ripped."

Members of the jury looked physically shocked as they were shown pictures of the bloodstained porch and the injuries sustained by Mr Puventhiran.

However, the defence argued Mr Puventhiran was not being honest, and that none of the three defendants had been involved in the attack.

Defence barrister for Mr Aurulselvem, Brian St Louis, suggested his client was being used as a "stooge".

He said: "You know very well that Mr Aurulselvem wasn’t there when you were viciously attacked. You know that."

He also argued Mr Puventhiran had made a number of enemies in the area and was accusing his client out of spite over a previous incident.

Defence barrister for Mr Balasingham, Anya Lewis, argued her client had not been involved in the attack at all, saying that when Mr Puventhiran first spoke to police he only mentioned two attackers.

She said: "You made no mention of a third person attacking you and made no mention of the name Elanseran Balasingham. The first mention you made of Mr Balasingham was at 5am in hospital.

"You didn’t see Mr Balasingham there. If you saw the third man at all, you saw him for a very small amount of time in very difficult circumstances.

"If you had seen him you would have given his details to the police.

"The reason you didn’t do that is because you didn’t see that third person."

Mr Puventhiran responded: "Why would I come here and lie? That’s not for me to do that. I’m not that kind of person."

The trial continues.