A WINCHESTER teenager who stabbed a man with a fish knife in a row over late-night noise has been jailed.

Kieren Clarke had been drinking heavily with a friend when victim Roy Bradbeer, 60, heard shouting and vulgar language outside his home at around 10pm.

Mr Bradbeer left his house, in Battery Hill, Bishop’s Waltham, to tell the pair to move on, but was said to have felt threatened and punched the teenagers to the ground, Winchester Crown Court was told today (Thursday).

There was a scuffle and Clarke and his co-defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked the victim.

In sentencing, Mr Recorder J Waddington QC said: “A neighbour saw you both pull him to the ground and both of you were kicking him as Mr Bradbeer curled up into a ball.”

The 18-year-old, of May Tree Close, Badger Farm, took out a knife and stabbed Mr Bradbeer in the chest, just above his right nipple, which penetrated the chest and “nipped the lung”.

Clarke was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent following a trial at Salisbury Crown Court in September, where he claimed he did not mean to stab his victim in chest but in his arm.

During the trial the jury were played Clarke's phone call to police after the incident where he asked to be arrested. He later told officers the field that he had dumped the knife in.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Winchester Crown Court

In mitigation, Gemma White said her client accepted responsibility for the injury and that he had “acted disproportionately” but questioned that the stabbing was intended.

“The fact of his age and lack of maturity is portrayed as a significant factor that led to the commission of the offence,” Ms White continued.

“He was visibly emotional and visibly distressed at times [during the trial].

“He is a young man with a very supportive family. This has been a significant knock that has been felt more widely than just the young man sitting in the dock today.”

Clarke previously pleaded guilty to being in possession of a bladed article during a hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court.

Judge Waddington jailed Clarke for three years, sending him to a youth offenders institute.

He said: “It was a gratuitous and dangerous act of aggression on your part, you intended to cause him serious harm.

“You stabbed a man in the chest, it is fortunate that you did not cause more serious injury – you could have killed him.”