A father and son have been jailed for a total of 20 years after attempting to murder a man with a sledgehammer, shovel and knife.

Stephen Sangster and his son, Stephen Jnr, burst into Fraser Winton's Bathgate home and inflicted horrific injuries.

The 41-year-old suffered a fractured skull, vertebra and forearm and multiple wounds as he was repeatedly struck and slashed.

The pair were each given ten-year prison terms by judge Lord Glennie at the High Court of Glasgow on Tuesday. They will also be monitored in the community for three years after their release.

Lord Glennie told them: "You were both convicted of launching an attack on a defenceless man in his own home.

"You burst in and committed a vicious attack. He sustained horrendous injuries and it is only by good fortune he didn't die.

"Whether this was the result of drugs or a perceived slight by a female in your family, there is no excuse for this behaviour."

The pair continue to deny the attack at the flat in Owen Stone Street, Bathgate, on August 31, 2014, but were convicted by a jury.

Sangster Snr, 52, used the sledgehammer while his son was carrying a shovel before using a craft knife on the victim.

During the attack a woman threw herself on top of Mr Winton in an attempt to shield him and pleaded: "Don't kill him. Please don't kill him."

The older Sangster said: "Let's go. We have done him. We have done him."

His 24-year-old son took the knife and continued the attack, shouting at his father: "He has to die. He has to die. He knows too much."

The victim told the court that Sangster Jnr had been grinding the knife into the back of his legs.

The assault started when three men, including the Sangsters, broke into the flat armed with weapons and the father struck the victim on the head with the sledgehammer.

Advocate depute Alan Mackay told the court: "This was a ferocious and sustained attack carried out on an unarmed man by three individuals, two of whom were the accused."

"The three who took part arrived armed with weapons. They arrived together and went away together."

Mr Mackay added: "This has all the hallmarks of an organised and concerted assault by these men."

He said that the victim had known the pair "for some years".

The Sangsters, of Mayfield Drive, Armadale, both have previous convictions for assault and possessing weapons.

The court was told Sangster Snr, a father of three, who suffered a stroke in 2010 and walks with the aid of a stick, and his son, who is a father of two, continue to protest their innocence.