A man who inflicted potentially life-threatening injuries in a knife attack is to be assessed for his level of “dangerousness” before being sentenced.

Wayne Bryson was said to have carried out the attack, with a kitchen knife, as a result of a relatively minor dispute with a man he knew, in Easington Colliery.

Durham Crown Court heard that Bryson and his victim were both at the home of a mutual acquaintance on the afternoon of February 28 this year, when he became angry as a bag, containing personal possessions, had gone missing.

It led to him punching the other man, who reciprocated, in the house kitchen.

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Mairi Clancy, prosecuting, said the confrontation spilled outside, into Hawtorn Street, where Bryson produced a knife and stabbed the other man to the front of the chest, while the victim also sustained an injury near the shoulder.

The victim turned his back to try to get away, whereupon Bryson grabbed his clothing and stabbed him up to three more times in the back.

Miss Clancy said Bryson immediately fled the scene, taking the knife with him, witnessed by members of the public who saw the blood-stained defendant go to a bus stop in a nearby street.

Police were informed of the situation by onlookers, as Bryson tried to board a bus to Peterlee, still armed with the knife, which he attempted to conceal under his jacket.

He told the driver he had just been stabbed and added: “I think he’s dead”, so the driver refused to allow him on board.

Bryson was admitted onto a follow-up service, which he took to Peterlee Bus Station, where he got off and disposed of the knife in a bin.

Police arrived at the station and arrested him as he tried to board another bus, at 4.10pm, and the blood-stained knife was recovered from the bin.

Tests later confirmed it was carrying both the blood of Bryson and his victim on the blade.

When interviewed, Bryson claimed to have no knowledge of a knife or of a stabbing, but after the forensic test results emerged, he claimed to have picked it up in an alleyway and taken it with him for his own protection.

The victim, who was assisted by members of the public trying to stem his blood loss at the attack scene, had to receive an emergency transfusion via a hole drilled into his knee in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

He suffered two lung puncture wounds caused by the stabbing and had to have a chest drain fitted for three days.

The court heard he had to remain in hospital for five days for what the prosecution said were, initially, “life-threatening injuries”.

A victim statement was read stating the “massive” impact the attack has had on his life, as he now struggles to sleep and requires anti-depressants and sedative medication.

He does not want to leave home and do anything, as he no longer feels his old self, and feels as if he is just, “struggling on and on”.

It has also had an effect on his family, as his mother witnessed the immediate aftermath of the attack when there was a sense of “panic and distress” as efforts were made to stem the loss of blood at the scene.

She also accompanied him to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

Bryson, 31, of no fixed abode, denied charges of wounding with intent and possessing a knife in public, but he was convicted on both counts following jury verdicts at the end of his trial, on August 30.

The intended sentence hearing, on Friday (September 6), was told he has 13 previous convictions for 17 offences, including possessing a knife in public, in 2011, criminal damage and assaults.

He also received a 10-week suspended prison sentence following a battery conviction only two days before the stabbing incident in Easington.

Judge Geoffrey Marson KC said it was a case where he would have to consider if the dangerous provisions apply to the defendant, given his antecedent history.

Calum McNicholas, for Bryson, said a report by the Probation Service should be drawn up to consider if his client is considered to pose a “danger” of committing further serious offences of violence.

Judge Marson agreed and said the sentencing hearing should be adjourned to allow the necessary probation report to be prepared.

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All parties agreed to adjourn the sentence until Tuesday, October 15.

Judge Marson remanded the defendant to remain in custody until then.

He said Bryson could appear over the prison-to-court video link for the adjourned sentencing hearing when his level of risk and the length of sentence will be determined.