MYSTERIOUS circumstances surrounding the attempted murder of a man stabbed in the neck at his home at Christmas two years ago have been re-enacted by the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Camera crews and actors were filming a reconstruction of the horrific attack at the Wagon Lane address of Philip Hey yesterday evening.

Family man Mr Hey was brutally attacked on December 15, 2012, after he was disturbed by a light in his garden.

A young man with an upper-class accent apologised for disturbing Mr Hey and his wife and said he was looking for an item lost by his brother in the victim's garden.

Good Samaritan Mr Hey kindly lent the suspect a torch and asked him to leave it on the doorstep when he finished searching.

About ten minutes later there was a further knock at the door. As Mr Hey opened it, he was stabbed in the throat with a thin eight inch blade.

“The surgeons said they couldn’t believe I’d made it. The blade passed 2mm from my jugular and by-passed my windpipe,” said father-of-two Mr Hey, now 55, who spoke out at the time to help police catch his attacker.

“He obviously wanted to kill me and when it happened I thought – this is it, I’ve got a few minutes to live. This is my last chance – I’ve got to save my own life.”

The Red Cross trained first-aider lay down on the floor grabbing the neck wound and waited for the ambulance.

At Bradford Royal Infirmary he discovered the blade had entered just behind his right earlobe, missed his jaw and come out beside his Adam’s apple.

His attacker is described as a white man, aged about 20, 6ft tall, of medium build with short hair. He wore a distinctive brown jumper with a zig zag pattern.

Despite intensive police investigations and appeals for information, the knifeman has never been caught.

The Crimewatch report on the attack will be broadcast later this month.

Meantime Crimestoppers is now offering a reward of up to £2,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the stabbing of Mr Hey.

Dave Hunter, Crimestoppers regional manager, said: “The victim was left in a very bad way following this vicious and unprovoked attack and he deserves to have the person responsible brought to justice.

“We urge anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, to call Crimestoppers anonymously.

"If you have any information on this attack then please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through our anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org."