THIS is the blood-curdling moment the News of the World caught an underworld hitman—as he demands £1,600 to leave his victim with "more holes than a teabag".

Vicious Christaides Georgiou, 38, bragged how he cunningly uses a five-inch serrated kitchen knife to pass off CONTRACT stabbings as just another statistic in the street terror gripping Britain.

And as thousands of decent people flocked to support the News of the World's Save Our Streets crusade evil Georgiou flashed his blade at our undercover investigator and mocked: "Knife crime now is TERRIBLE!"

Our campaign includes the call to introduce a minimum two-year sentence for carrying a knife.

But Georgiou has already done time for manslaughter and serious assault, and looked unperturbed as he reeled off a list of barbaric cut-to-order options.

Just a month after finishing his latest stretch behind bars the cocky gangster revealed a sickening alternative to the "teabag" stabbing—feeding victims their own cut-off EARS.

Posing as a businessmen trying to recover a £16,000 unpaid debt, our man met Georgiou at the Exmouth Arms pub in London's Euston.

Scar

And, vowing to slash the target around the buttocks so he'd "never sit again", the pasty-faced psycho told us: "He'll just be walking past and I'll put him in a corner and do what needs to be done—you're talking 47 or 48 stitches."

Georgiou held his knife—wrapped in newspaper to keep his fingerprints and personal DNA off the weapon— beneath a bar-room table and asked: "You want him cut? You want him serrated? Serrated will open him up more and leave a scar."

Warming to his work, Georgiou went on: "You want his a**e opened up? Every time he sits down he'll get a reminder. If you stripe someone's a**e, every time they go to sit the wound re-opens.

"You can do the face, too—and every time this guy looks in the mirror he's not gonna be able to forget where it's come from."

Astonishingly, Greek Georgiou was only released from jail on June 27 after a three-year term for GBH. He's not keen to return so insisted: "Don't ask me to do the heart or anything. No organs. I could get 16 years or a life sentence this time."

The villain then revealed another concern—the risk of sparking gang warfare—demanding: "The guy who's the target, is he a businessman, or anything to do with drugs?"

Told the "target" was "soft"—a businessman owing cash over a construction deal—Georgiou said: "I don't mind if he's soft or hard, that's irrelevant. The problem is if it's drugs and it comes back to underworld stuff, well we know people, he knows people, then suddenly it all kicks off."

Georgiou deliberately concealed his mouth as he spoke in case anyone neraby copuld lip read. And he refused to drink from a glass of beer for fear of leaving telltale DNA.

He mumbled: "You pay me a two-er (£200) up front and I'll do the job. The rest on completion. I want £1,600—that's 10 per cent of the debt."

Then chillingly he warned: "Don't f*** me about! Everyone's got family. Everyone's got children."

Toying with the idea of removing one of the target's testicles, he added: "He'll be wearing trousers. If you wanna take off a b*****k it's not easy."

Opting to attack as the target came home after a pub quiz, Georgiou said: "It's easier at night. The main thing is to get off camera. Pick a blind spot, do it and do it quick.

"It'll look like a street argument. I'll just walk up and grab him, open his a**e up, and I can still break his nose with a head butt. The main thing is you're paying for him to go to hospital. While I'm holding him I'll give his face a nick as well."

As he reeled off his stomach-churning CV, Georgiou admitted spending at least nine years in jail. One victim had fallen £30,000 in debt to a loan shark. He got the "teabag" service.

Georgiou hissed: "The upshot was he paid."

But he got off lightly compared to a guy who had to be sorted out for an attack on one of the crook's lady friends. "He took her hostage for three hours and beat her up," explained Georgiou. "And I don't like violence against ladies or children.

"Let's just say his ear come off and he swallowed it over a couple of days, mixed with dog food."

Even after agreeing a deal and taking a £140 deposit, Georgiou took care to cover his tracks. He said: "With the greatest respect I'm not shaking hands because of DNA...so spud me (bump fists)."

One way or another this terrifying man was always destined for a life steeped in crime. He admitted: "You might laugh but when I left school I was training to be a solicitor. Got my A-levels and all that."

Followed by an NVQ in sick butchery...

Violent attacks soar

By Ian Kirby

VIOLENT crime has SOARED over the past decade despite government boasts that they've made Britain safer, we can reveal.

While Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says Labour has exceeded its target because recorded crime dropped by 9 per cent last year, a look back 10 years gives a very different picture.

When recent Home Office crime statistics are compared to those of 1997, it shows recorded crime UP by seven per cent.

And crimes of violence turn out to be up much MUCH HIGHER during Labour's reign.

The increase in murders, attempted murder and grevous bodily harm from 1997 to 2008 is up nearly SEVENTY PER CENT. Recorded violent attacks are up 20 PER CENT while less serious "wounding" has risen 85 PER CENT. Sex crimes have gone up by just under a third while robbery is up by 35 PER CENT.

The Home Office insists the crime stats from 1997 can't be compared with those from this year because they have changed the way crime is counted twice in the past 10 years.

But one serving Chief Constable, speaking anonymously, told the News of the World the government has deliberately massaged statistics in a bid to keep them down.

He said: "When the Government want to reduce violent crime we are told it is important that we stop arresting offenders for this and to use Drunk and Disorderly arrest powers instead.

"D and D does not show up on Government statistics."