A man has been found guilty of wounding with intent after his victim suffered three stab wounds during a violent altercation in the street.

Kenneth Walton was cleared of attempted murder, possession of a bladed article and assault by beating, following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Karl Glease suffered three stab wounds, including one to the chest and another to his neck, which resulted in him staying in hospital for a month while recovering from his injuries.

The 30-year-old accepted that he was responsible for inflicting the injuries to Mr Glease but maintained he was protecting himself when he was threatened with a golf club and a knife.

Jurors had heard how Mr Glease had been drinking with the defendant and his girlfriend minutes before he was stabbed and slashed with a knife.

Paramedics were called to the address on Ely Terrace, Stanley just after 10.20pm on Saturday, June 22 this year to discover the alleged victim with multiple stab wounds.

During a video recorded police interview, Mr Glease said he thought he had been punched to the chest until he saw his own blood spurting into the air.

“I grabbed a golf club from behind the door, which was there as I have had my windows put out a number of times, then he has punched me on the chest,” he said.

“The blood was just p****** out of my chest and said - ‘the b****** has just stabbed me’. I said to his girlfriend – ‘you need to call an ambulance’ as the blood was pouring out of me chest.

“That’s about all I can remember. It will stick in my mind for as long as I live.”

Throughout the trial, Walton had always maintained that he had acted in self-defence after being hit with a golf club and threatened with a knife.

Giving evidence, Walton told the jury that a grapple ensued between the pair and that was how Mr Glease suffered the stab wounds.

He said: “I just swung the knife in front of me, I don’t remember how, it happened so fast and I was scared.

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“He was still coming towards me; he has hit me with the golf club and then he has pulled the knife out and he is still coming towards me with another knife.

“When I swung that knife, I wasn’t doing it to hurt him. I didn’t want no conflict that night.”

Walton, of Windsor Street, Trimdon Station, County Durham, denied making any deliberate stabbing movements towards Mr Glease and said the wound to the neck must have been caused when they were wrestling on the floor.

Judge Jonathan Carroll remanded Walton in custody and ordered that a pre-sentence report be prepared before passing sentence next month.