A NORTHFLEET man who attempted to murder his ex-wife’s new husband with a meat cleaver has been given an indefinite jail sentence after the court discovered he had killed before.

Girdaware Singh Basra, aged 55, will serve at least six years in prison before he can apply to be released.

He was convicted of attempted murder, wounding with intent and breach of a restraining order in May over an incident which occurred last October when celebrating Diwali.

The party was at his home in Beaumont Drive with his ex-wife Sukhvinder Kaur Basra, their four teenage children, and her new husband Resham Singh - despite a restraining order banning him from going near his ex-wife.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC said Basra was fuelled by "either cocaine, alcohol or a combination of both" when he "exploded in a fit of lethal violence".

He attacked Resham Singh with a meat cleaver, chipping a slither off his skull, while his ex-wife was injured trying to stop him.

Judge Gold said: "This was a very serious attack with a deadly weapon.

"Had Resham Singh not been able to get you off by biting your ear, I have no doubt you would have killed him."

Neither victim supported the prosecution, although both were present - along with their children - at Croydon Crown Court on Friday (August 10).

Prior to his sentence, the court heard Basra had a string of previous convictions dating back to 1976 which included manslaughter in 1983 after he stabbed a man through the heart in a street fight

He also had convictions for possessing dangerous weapons, assault and drugs and driving offences.

In 2010, he was convicted for battery and sentenced to three months in prison for subsequently breaching a restraining order.