An inmate will argue next month that his six-year prison sentence for a stabbing should be overturned.

Donovan Kitching, who has consistently denied involvement in the attack, was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following a trial in May last year. He was sentenced in October 2023 to six years in prison for the offence, with a further six months to be served consecutively for breaching a suspended sentence.

Kitching lodged an appeal shortly after the verdict. A permission hearing took place at the Court of Appeal in February, where Kitching represented himself.

During that hearing, he submitted that his conviction was unsafe due to misrepresentation by his advocate, errors in the deemster’s summing-up, and improper judicial intervention.

Judge of Appeal Anthony Cross and Deemster Alan Gough presided over the hearing. The issues raised by Kitching were put to prosecution advocate Peter Connick.

The court ruled that the appeal could proceed, but only on the grounds of errors in the summing-up and judicial intervention. Kitching’s claim of misrepresentation by his legal representative was dismissed.

A short hearing was held this week to confirm that the full appeal hearing will take place on 8 September and is expected to last one day.

Although Kitching had initially been represented by an experienced barrister, he chose to proceed without legal representation after expressing dissatisfaction with the limited grounds of appeal his barrister was willing to pursue. As a result, Kitching will once again represent himself, despite being warned by Judge of Appeal Cross that it would be in his best interests to have legal representation.

The original case concerned an incident on 19 August 2023. The court previously heard that the victim had been lured to the Cinder Path in Douglas by Michael Glover, who has already been sentenced to 28 months in custody for his role.

The meeting was arranged under the pretext of a cannabis deal. Jurors were told the victim was threatened over an alleged £10,000 drug debt and warned he would need to come up with a payment plan or face ‘consequences’.

The victim agreed to meet Glover at the Cinder Path, off Peel Road, Douglas, to buy cannabis. He was then attacked by a masked man wielding an unidentified implement.

The man raised his hands to protect himself and was struck near the ear and on the hand. He sustained a 4cm deep cut to his left hand, which required six stitches, and a 1.5cm wound to his head.

Although the attacker wore a ski-type mask, the victim told the court he recognised the assailant as Kitching.

He fled down the path, pursued briefly by the attacker, who slipped and abandoned the chase. The victim then ran to a nearby property on Ballakermeen Road, entered through an open garage, and phoned his father to report he had been stabbed.