A MASKED attacker waited outside a pub before attacking and stabbing a Southend man four times, a court has heard.

Curtis Butler, 23, plead not guilty to charges of attempted murder and having an article with a blade or point at Basildon Crown Court.

His brother, Paul Butler, 22, plead not guilty to intimidating a witness at the same court on Tuesday.

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Officers responded to reports of a stabbing in Valkyrie Road, Westcliff, in the early hours of Saturday, October 30, 2021.

The victim, a man in his late 20s, was walking along the road with a friend when a man wearing a balaclava approached and attacked.

Police and ambulance crews arrived on the scene and took the victim to Southend Hospital where he was treated for two stab wounds to his neck and two to his back.

Detailing the attack in court, the prosecution said: “A figure was seen, in a balaclava, waiting at the junction of Valkyrie Road and Station Road shortly before the attack.

“A witness saw a male run toward the [the victim] and that figure had with him a knife, shouting at them,” the court was told.

“The individual stabbed [the victim] in the back once, then stabbed him again. [The victim] tried to run away but he tripped, at which point the assailant stabbed him again twice in the neck before fleeing.”

Earlier that night, the victim had been at the Lamb and Lion pub in Station Road, Westcliff, as had Curtis Butler, the court was told.

Curtis Butler and the victim were known to each and had mixed social circles; the court heard.

The prosecution told the court: “It’s our case that Curtis Butler was the man in the balaclava. He left the Lamb and Lion when he saw [the victim] waited for him to emerge again, and then stabbed him.

After Curtis Butler’s arrest in April 2022, his brother Paul Butler “threatened a witness with the intention to intimidate him so that he would not assist the police”, the prosecution argued to the court.

Both Curtis Butler, of Great Gregorie, Basildon, and Paul Butler, of, Royston Avenue, Southend, deny the charges against them.

The trial continues.