A Shropshire man accused of battering another man with an electrified knuckleduster and slashing his face with a knife in a drugs row was framed for the attack, a court heard.

Russell Higham, 33, of Pelham Road, Upton Magna, who is on trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court, denies seriously wounding Neil Watkin at Mr Watkin’s home in Mount Road, Shrewsbury, on November 19 last year.

The court heard Mr Watkin was slashed with a knife, leaving him with a cut stretching from his ear to his lip, and was battered with a knuckleduster which had electrified probes attached.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Watkin admitted to having a £150 a week drug habit.

He told the court days before the attack rumours had spread amongst drug users in Shrewsbury he had a large quantity of heroin hidden in his home.

He added he had heard Higham was going to take the drugs and that he would end up “in the boot of a car on Haughmond Hill”.

Mr Stephen Blower, defending Higham, said to Mr Watkin: “I suggest that after you stopped shoplifting in 2004 the only way you could have financed the habit of the kind you have described on a long term basis is by dealing yourself. There was a rumour you owed £800 to suppliers from Liverpool.

“You were sold drugs by people from Liverpol so you in turn could sell them on to finance your own habit. This has all the hallmarks of someone coming to collect a debt.

“You needed to move attention away from those who are responsible and Mr Higham is becoming a convenient whipping boy.”

Higham was said to have burst into Mr Watkin’s flat, knocking the door off its hinges, with three other masked- men.

The court heard claims Higham began to shout at Mr Watkin, demanding money, before leading the attack.

Mr Peter Arnold, prosecuting, said: “He was attacked, first physically, then a weapon was used, a knuckleduster with a taser. It fits on to the hand but has two prongs which should give an electric shock.

“The defendant shouted to his friends for a knife, and set about the victim causing a number of stab and slash wounds.

“He could have been killed.”

The trial continues.