A stabbing victim who resisted arrest by two plain-clothed police officers said he only struggled because he feared he was about to be attacked again.

Douglas Dickson, 39, who had previously been stabbed six times, was cycling through a cemetery in Great Yarmouth on January 3 when he was stopped by two police officers who suspected he was carrying drugs.

He tried to pull away and an officer was caught by Dickson’s elbow causing minor discomfort. He was also found to be carrying two wraps of drugs.

But Great Yarmouth Magistrate’s Court heard that Dixon, of The Eagles, Great Yarmouth, was suffering panic attacks and flashbacks after being the victim of a brutal multiple stabbing in April last year and left in a terrible state.

He said in the dock: “I have been stabbed six times and everything hurts.”

His solicitor Robert Barley said his client’s account was that he had just got some drugs and was cycling through the churchyard when two people “accosted” him.

He said: “He had previously been a victim of a stabbing and did not know who they were. He had been stabbed before and did resist until he realised they were police officers. The level of resistance was very, very low.

“He does have problems with drugs, psychosis, depression and anxiety.

“Since he was attacked he has four or five panic attacks and post traumatic stress disorder.

“He relives that attack every day and is lucky to be alive.”

The court heard Dickson had been a drug addict for 12 to 13 years taking heroin and crack cocaine but now had a prescription for methadone and was looking for rehabilitation.

He was fined £50 for resisting the police officer and £30 each for possession of a wrap of heroin and one of cocaine, a total of £110.

Chairman of the bench Darren Gilkes said: “We hear what you are going through at the moment.”

A 16-year-old boy was detained for four and a half years over the stabbing on Monday.

The boy was 15 when he attacked Dickson in Great Yarmouth in April.

The teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, had been sent to Norfolk by a “county lines” drug dealing gang.

Judge Stephen Holt said the boy had been “groomed” and “exploited” but had left his victim in a “terrible state”.