A man stabbed his friend with a carving knife following a row at a birthday party about oral sex, a court has heard.
Christopher Morris plunged the weapon into his mate's thigh, and when police arrived he told them he was the "suspect", using his fingers to make quotation marks in the air as he said the word. The victim was sat on the floor bleeding heavily through his jeans, and officers performed emergency first aid until an ambulance arrived.
Sending the defendant to prison, a judge told him that anyone who uses a knife to inflict serious injury must expect immediate custody.
Swansea Crown Court hard the incident took place at a property in Alexandra Street in Port Talbot in April last year when friends gathered to celebrate a birthday. Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said during the course of the evening cannabis and alcohol were consumed at the gathering, and then at some stage - the exact time is unknown - the victim of the assault, Lee Morgan, went outside to smoke a cigarette.
The court heard while outside he heard a row taking place in the kitchen between his girlfriend and the couple's friend Morris. The smoker went to investigate and found his partner in an upset state having just been told by Morris that the two men had had oral sex in the garden. The court heard the girlfriend went "bonkers" at the sex claim - denied by her partner - and the row became heated, with Morris told to leave the property.
The prosecutor said the defendant then grabbed a carving knife with a 10in blade and swung it at Mr Morgan's with a "stabbing motion". Mr Morgan raised his arm to block the blow, suffering a cut between his thumb and forefinger as he did so. The court heard Mr Morgan then butted his attacker "as hard as he could" - making contact with the defendant's nose - before Morris lashed out with the knife and stabbed him in the upper-thigh.
Mr Scapens said the police were called, and when officers entered the kitchen Morris told them he was the "suspect", using his fingers to make quotation marks in the air as he said the word. Officers noted the 30-year-old was slurring his words and appeared to be heavily intoxicated.
Meanwhile other officers performed first aid on the casualty, who was seen to be heavily bleeding even trough his jeans, until paramedics arrived. The victim was taken to hospital where a 7cm wound to the back of the thigh and 4cm wound to the hand were cleaned and stitched. You can read about a callous carer stole thousands of pounds from the elderly and vulnerable couple he was taking care of here.
The court heard there had been two youngsters upstairs in the house during the attack, and though they did not see what happened they heard the commotion and were later escorted from the property by police officers who checked they were okay and took them to stay with a relative.
In his subsequent interview Morris denied assaulting his friend.
In a victim statement which was read to the court Mr Morgan said the incident had left him suffering with anxiety and panic attacks, and having trouble sleeping. He said he has flashbacks to the assault and sees the knife coming for his face "over and over".
Christopher Michael Morris, of Water Street, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty inflicting grievous bodily harm on the day his trial was due to start when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Huw Davies, for Morris, said the defendant had expressed genuine remorse for what he had done. He said his client had spent the last 16 weeks on remand in prison having breached his bail conditions - he had been required by a court to live George Holmes Way in Bristol but had been caught living in Alfred Street in Neath town centre - though there was no suggestion he had gone anyway near people involved in the prosecution.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant that anyone who takes a knife and uses it to cause serious injury can expect an immediate prison sentence. With a 10 per cent discount for his late plea Morris was sentenced to 15 months in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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