A white van driver who stabbed a heroic officer repeatedly in the head with a machete was today cleared of attempted murder but still faces jail over the attack.

Muhammad Rodwan, 56, grabbed the rusty weapon and swung it at Pc Stuart Outten when a routine traffic stop in east London spiralled into shocking violence.

Pc Outten, 29, scrambled away with blood pouring for his head, and managed to Taser Rodwan as he emerged from his van with the two-foot-long machete held aloft.

The officer, who needed emergency treatment to six wounds on his head but was back on duty within weeks of the attack, was hailed as “Britain’s bravest cop” as he was given the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 London Hero Award.

The Pc told the Old Bailey he was just trying to “stay alive” during the terrifying attack.

Rodwan, who claimed he had lashed out in self-defence, was today cleared of attempted murder but convicted by an Old Bailey jury of wounding with intent.

He was also found not guilty of possession of an offensive weapon. He faces a prison sentence for the attack despite his acquittal on the attempted murder charge.

The incident began just after midnight on August 7 last year, when the police officers on a routine patrol pulled over Rodwan’s white van for not having insurance.

The handyman had initially tried to ignore the blue lights stop, but then emerged from his van to say: “Are you going to knock me down? What do you want?”.

Giving evidence, Rodwan admitted smoking cannabis earlier in the day and conceded he was angry with police “because I’m always being stopped”.

He tried to get back into his van to drive off after being told he was suspected of not having insurance, ignoring Pc Outten’s repeated assertions that he was not allowed to flee.

Rodwan then kicked the officer in the chest, and a violent tussle broke out as Pc Outten attempted to restrain and arrest the handyman, pulling out Rodwan’s dreadlocks and grabbing him by the throat.

Rodwan let out a high-pitched squeal as grabbed the machete from the back of his vehicle, swinging it at least four times at Pc Outten’s head as they struggled.

"I started feeling something sharp being snapped against my head", Pc Outten told the trial.

"I fired the Taser. He was running towards me swinging the machete.”

The heroic officer incapacitated Rodwan with the second shot of his Taser, as the driver had been rushing at him with the machete held aloft.

He then called out for help to stem the bleeding from his head and called for an ambulance.

After his arrest Rodwan was unrepentant, insisting he was the one who had been attacked and telling the custody sergeant: “My life is worth more than his life”.

He told the court he had been living out of his van prior to the attack, and claimed he had used the machete earlier in the day for gardening work.

Speaking during an interview aired on Sky after the verdict, Pc Outten decscribed the terrifying incident.

He said: “By the time [the machete hit], the adrenaline of having a scuffle with someone has kicked in.

"So I was aware that something big, heavy and sharp was hitting me on the side of the head.

“You don’t know that you have been cut until I realised it was blood. All I know was that I had to back away.

“My thought process was: ‘I need to stop him. I need to stop him or he will kill me.’”

He added: “I fully believe he would have carried on chopping and hacking at me.

“I may have been able to fight him off - but with the blood loss was already coming through and that would have carried on - I don’t think I would have been able to stop him without Taser."

Rodwan was remanded in custody and will be sentenced tomorrow.