A WOULD-BE thief who stabbed an off-duty police officer with an 8in blade was jailed for ten years yesterday.

PC David Myers, 31, was stabbed three times when he tackled four youths tampering with a car near his mother's terraced house in Hartlepool.

The weapon, a chef's knife, severed an artery in his shoulder, filling one of his lungs with blood, and only emergency surgery at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, saved his life.

PC Myers, who serves in London's Metropolitan Police, told the youths he was a police officer before the attack.

But knifeman Graham Hull chillingly told him he was going to stab him anyway and that he would end up in a box.

The attack was witnessed by a 12-year-old girl from her bedroom. The youngster gave police a full description of how the youths surrounded PC Myers, before one stabbed him, another punched him to the ground and a third jumped on his back, locking his arm around his neck.

The four admitted they had been drunk after sharing litre bottles of cider and smoking cannabis joints, said Christine Egerton, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court.

They said they had planned to steal a radio cassette player from the car, a Nissan Micra.

Judge Guy Whitburn said that the four staged a deliberate confrontation with PC Myers after he identified himself as a policeman, telling them that if they touched him they would be jailed for seven years.

Robin Denny, defending, said that Hull expected a long prison sentence, adding: "He had an excess of drink, possibly drugs, and so he did something that, given his background, he would not normally have contemplated doing.

"He has a very genuine remorse for what happened and is extremely frightened that he actually became involved in something so serious."

Hull, 21, of Whitfield Drive, Hartlepool, was jailed for ten years after he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on July 15. He denied attempted murder, which was left on the court file.

Two youths, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were sentenced to 18 months detention and training after pleading guilty to violent disorder.

John Ponting, 23, of Ashgrove Avenue, Hartlepool, was given a 12-month jail sentence, which was suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to affray.

The judge told them: "All four of you were fuelled by drink. In the course of the confrontation, PC Myers made it clear to you that he was a police officer. The wound was extremely serious, it was 10cm deep, and he later nearly died due to loss of blood. Had it not been for the skilled medical attention, he would have died."

PC Myers, who still suffers from flashbacks, was in court but declined to comment.