A JUDGE told a man who had stabbed his victim in the chest that he 'may end up serving a life sentence' if his behaviour boils over again.
26-year-old Corbin Whitehouse left his victim needing surgery after he used a kitchen knife in his Barrow home in the early hours of March 5. He heard his sentence for a charge involving Grievous Bodily Harm at Preston Crown Court on August 21.
Whitehouse was at a gathering in the victim's flat in Barrow. Prosecutor Michael O'Brien told the court he turned around and 'the defendant held a knife towards his throat.'
Mr O'Brien continued: "He stepped back asking what was going on. There was some form of scuffle. [The victim] tried to grab the knife." Whitehouse, of Parker Street, Barrow, then performed what Mr O'Brien described as a 'reckless' act with the weapon.
After the stabbing, Whitehouse tried to give his victim first aid. When he later realised there was a police investigation, he voluntarily surrendered himself to Barrow Police Station. He admitted that he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
A section of the victim impact statement was read into court. He said he still had a scar from the stabbing. Although the victim said he was not 'scared' of Whitehouse, he had gone from being sociable to keeping to himself.
In his submission, Whitehouse's defence barrister Richard Vardon reiterated that he had voluntarily surrendered himself to the police. "It is a serious matter," he added, but in his mitigation said that the defendant was always prepared to give a guilty plea.
Judge Guy Mathieson called the case 'serious.' In his remarks, he said: "The knife was used to injure somebody." He called the incident 'a moment of reckless stupidity on your own part.'
"You realised what you had done, the potential damage you had caused," he added.
"You tried as much as you could redress that damage. It is fortunate that you have not caused more serious damage."
Judge Mathieson handed Whitehouse 18 months prison sentence. He will serve half on licence. Because Whitehouse had been on remand from the moment he handed himself into the police, the judge told him: 'Effectively there's two months left to go.'
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