A machete-wielding thug who used a blowtorch to set his victim on fire later issued a chilling threat.

After confronting body builder Vaughan Livesey in his Wigton Road sports nutrition shop, Frank Robertson told his victim he would kill his partner if he "grassed" on him to the police, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Mr Livesey, 50, later said he feared he was about to be killed as Robertson confronted him in his PB Sports shop, dousing him with a flammable liquid, and using a blowtorch to ignite it.

Robertson then produced a two and a half foot long machete, and tried to chop at his victim, who retreated to his storeroom, slamming the door shut just as the blade bit into the wood.

The court was told how how several minutes after the attack, 60-year-old Robertson spoke to Mr Livesey on the phone, telling him: "Grass me up and I'll kill Jude [the victim's partner]."

Robertson, of Stainton, near Penrith, was at first charged with attempting to murder 50-year-old Mr Livesey.

The defendant denied that but admitted an alternative allegation of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was jailed for nine years and nine months.

Tim Evans, prosecuting, said the background to the attack was a complicated financial dispute between the two men.

They knew each other thanks to a mutual interest in snooker, but got into a dispute after Mr Livesey and his partner Jude took on a house that had been built by Robertson.

On February 9, Robertson rang Mr Livesey, angrily demanding money that he said he owed him. He ignored later calls from the defendant.

Describing the attack on the morning of February 13, Mr Evans said Mr Livesey was in the back of his PB Sports shop when he heard the front door opening and went through to see who it was.

"He saw Frank Robertson a few feet away, holding a clear plastic bottle of about a few litres capacity," said Mr Evans. "Frank Robertson began squirting him with clear fluid."

After dousing Mr Livesey, Robertson ignited his blowtorch, and set his victim on fire, burning his leg, and singing his eyebrows and hair.

"I just went up in flames, and the shop went on fire and the things near me," said Mr Livesey.

Mr Evans continued: "Frank Robertson then produced what Vaughan Livesey described as the "biggest machete I have ever seen - it was two and a half foot long."

Robertson repeatedly yelled that he would kill him.

"From the sheer anger of the look on his face he believed he was going to be severely injured or killed," said Mr Evans.

The victim retreated to his shop's rear storeroom, slamming the door.

Even then, Robertson began hacking at the door with the machete as he tried to get at Mr Livesey.

The defendant eventually fled.

Later, Mr Livesey spoke of the traumatic effect of the attack.

He said: "This horrific calculated attack by a so-called distant friend has left me shattered. Trying to make sense of what happened is impossible and I still feel I am in shock.

"The physical pain was indescribable; the smell of my burning flesh made me want to vomit. The emotional side has scarred me forever. I will never forget that day as long as I live.

"I was terrified.

"All this trauma because I would not answer Frank's phone calls because as normal he was demanding money. He must have been a very, very, desperate man to stoop that low."

The said the physical pain of his leg burn had been indescribable.

Describing his struggle to come to terms with what happened, he added: "I constantly wake up, reliving what happened... I could have died and at that time I thought I was going to."

Ian Hudson, for Robertson, whose record includes a robbery and using a car to assault somebody, said: "He snapped, and took the law into his own hands." Robertson denied that he would ever hurt Mr Livesey's partner.

In a phone conversation with her, he had said: "Hell babe, I wouldn't hurt you or your pets. It's between me and Vaughan."

The defence lawyer also handed in three character references for the defendant, and pointed out that Robertson admitted the lesser offence within an hour of it being offered by the prosecution.

Judge James Adkin told Robertson: "You intended to burn your victim and wound your victim with a machete. Those injuries would have been painful, disfiguring and potentially life-threatening.

"You made a concerted effort to cause such injuries.”

The judge also imposed an indefinite restraining order, forbidding Robertson from making any contact with his victim.

Speaking after the case, Mr Livesey said: "I was hoping that he would be jailed for a bit longer. I'm trying to put it behind me and carry on but the whole thing has been a nightmare."

He thanked local people who had supported him and added that he did not owe Robertson any money.