Man, 32, is jailed for stabbing another person in the back

Adam McEwan, of Eastfield House, Tumulus Avenue, Newcastle Upon Tyne, pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on February 10, 2013, as well as assaulting a woman occasioning her actual bodily harm on the same date.

The court was told that at the time of the incident McEwan lived in a flat on Northland Road and that he had lived in the city for a couple of years.

The Crown Court heard the women who was assaulted lived in the same property as the defendant. She had been out for the night and brought friends back to her flat.

In the early hours of the morning, the two victims were in the flat when McEwan let himself in and he then began to be aggressive for no apparent reason.

The injured party got up to leave the flat and as he got to the front door, felt as if he had been hit on the back.

He turned around and saw his friend was trying to restrain McEwan. She shouted at him to leave and when the man got onto the street he realised his back was covered in blood.

The court heard that the victim collapsed on the street and an ambulance was called a short time later.

He sustained a wound to his back which required four staples and a wound to his arm which required three staples.

Meanwhile, the woman sustained a number of cuts to her arm during the struggle with McEwan. The prosecution said the defendant was arrested and during police interview he claimed he had no memory of the previous evening.

He also said he could not account for how he sustained a cut to his arm.

The court heard the injured parties had both made a full physical recovery.

However, the court heard that the man had on-going psychological problems as a result of the attack on him.

Defence counsel Paul Kearney, who appeared for McEwan, described the offence as “inexplicable”.

“There was no relationship or animosity between the defendant and the injured party,” he said.

“It was simply one of these situations marred by the effect of alcohol”.

He said that his client had no propensity towards violence and this was something that should never have happened.

Sentencing McEwan, Judge Philip Babington said it was fortunate McEwan’s indiscriminate use of a knife had not caused more damage than it did.

He imposed a determinate sentence of six-and-a-half years, instructing that half of the term should be spent in custody and the remainder on licence.