A drug addict who stabbed a friend after a row during an all-day drinking session has been jailed for three years.

Gary Hart repeatedly knifed Liaquat Ali in the buttocks and leg after they rowed while boozing at a friend's house in Middlesbrough.

Hart, 31, left the house in Gresham Road and went to another friend's home where he got a knife from the kitchen and returned to find Mr Ali, 32, who he claimed had earlier tried to stab him.

Teesside Crown Court heard today that Hart found Mr Ali in an alleyway where he was urinating, and knifed him eight times.

Hart, of Gresham Road, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 27 months. Judge David Bryant imposed a further seven months for a burglary which Hart fell to be sentenced for after he breached a community rehabilitation order imposed for the original offence.

Hart's barrister Damien Powell said his client was drunk and was provoked into the assault after Mr Ali tried to attack him.

"The fact that he had a great deal to drink may have resulted in him reacting to that incident more fiercely than he otherwise would have done," said Mr Powell. "He has expressed remorse for his actions and has spoken to the victim by telephone and apologised to him."

Judge Bryant told Hart: "There had been an earlier incident when you had been threatened with a knife, but not actually injured.

"What you did was not as a result of provocation, it was as a result of you seeking revenge. "You went to seek out Mr Ali and attack him, and stabbed him when he was in no position either to defend himself or escape. You continued to stab him while he was on the ground."