A drunken thug who stabbed a man nine times in an unprovoked attack following a confrontation near a taxi office has been locked up.

Adam Leonard lured his victim away for the office to launch his unprovoked attack before running away celebrating what he had done.

The 33-year-old left his victim needing emergency surgery after he suffered two punctured lungs as a result of the stabbing in the early hours of the morning on Redcar High Street.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the attack had a devastating impact on Leonard’s victim and he is still struggling to come to terms with it.

In a victim personal statement, the man said the attack was the worst thing that had ever happened to him and had left him considering taking his own life.

“I feel like a shell of the person I used to be,” he said. “I honestly can’t remember anything that happened after leaving Guisborough and arriving in Redcar where the attack took place.

“Following the attack, I was in constant pain which resulted in numerous visits to medical professionals. The injuries were so severe I had to stay off work, so I was affected financially.

“I experienced regular panic attacks and flashbacks.”

Redcar High Street where Adam Leonard stabbed his victim nine timesRedcar High Street where Adam Leonard stabbed his victim nine times (Image: Google)

Judge Roger Thomas KC sentenced Leornard to 14 years in prison with an extended licence period of three years after branding him a serial offender with a predilection to carrying a knife.

“You are seen on CCTV for a number of minutes before the stabbing and it is possible to gain a very good impression of you and your behaviour which was odd and bizarre.

“For some wholly unjustified and senseless reason, you took some sort of exception to your victim who did nothing at all to you to explain the attention that you paid to him,” he said.

“Having effectively lured him to you, you produced a knife from your pocket and stabbed him nine times. These were penetrating wounds, his left lung was pierced and deflated and his right lung was also deflated.

“These injuries were correctly described as life-threatening.”

Jon Harley, prosecuting, told the court that the unprovoked attack took place in the early hours of the morning when the defendant was heavily intoxicated.

He said: “This was a persistent assault, incorporating nine stab wounds to the body and back.

“The medical evidence that was presented was clear that one of the stab wounds which punctured the victim’s lung was life-threatening.”

Adam LeonardAdam Leonard (Image: Cleveland Police)

Leonard, of Park Court, Redcar, was found guilty of causing wounding with intent after he pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article following the attack on March 31.

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The judge heard how Leonard had 30 convictions for 65 offences including ones for violence and weapons offences and one for attacking his own brother.

Rod Hunt, mitigating, said his client accepted that his temper had got the better of him when the attack took place.

He added: “When he is away from this area, he seems to leave his bad personality behind but when he comes back it comes to the forefront.

“He accepts that when he saw the confrontation was going to happen, he ‘finished it’ – in his own words.”