A MAN who slashed a woman in the face with a knife in a row over a drug debt has been jailed for two years at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond told 52-year-old Edward Tamms it was nothing but “fortuitous” that the consequences were not more serious as the woman suffered only cuts to her face.

The incident happened in Hawick on the afternoon of March 25 when Tamms and a friend agreed to meet the woman and her associates to settle an argument about a drugs debt.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said his client had gone armed with the knife in case the situation escalated, which it did.

Tamms, formerly of Drumlanrig Court in Hawick, pleaded guilty to striking the woman in the face twice with a knife to her injury.

The jail sentence was back-dated to March 30 when Tamms was first taken into custody.