A DRUNKEN row sparked a savage attack in which a man was slashed three times across his face with a butcher’s knife or machete.

Lee Keegan Sheraton, who carried out the late afternoon assault on his mother’s ex-partner, was yesterday (May 30) jailed for 13 years.

Sheraton, 22, who has four previous convictions for offences in which a knife or other weapon was used, will also be subject to an extended five-year licence period afterwards, as Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker said he considers him a danger to the public.

Durham Crown Court heard the latest incident took place after both were drinking amicably at their respective Chester-le-Street homes on May 31 last year.

Graeme Gaston, prosecuting, said Sheraton reacted to a remark made by the former partner of his mother, grabbing the knife in the kitchen of his home, in Fifth Avenue, and inflicting the first wound.

Two further blows were struck with the knife in the street outside and, despite having blood spurting from facial wounds, the injured man was able to ring the emergency services.

He was taken to hospital in what was believed to be a life-threatening condition, and suffered cuts of 3ins and 6ins to his jaw bone and right cheek, plus a broken nose and damage to facial arteries.

The court heard the 44-year-old victim has suffered psychologically, and is permanently scarred. He has also remained largely housebound.

Mr Gaston said police followed a trail of blood stains from where the victim was found, in Fifth Avenue, to Sheraton’s nearby home, but he was not there as his mother, Beverley Pringle, had driven him away from the scene.

He handed himself in at a police station next day.

Despite previous denials, Sheraton admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon in public, on the day of his trial earlier this year.

His mother, 45-year-old Pringle, also of Fifth Avenue, admitted assisting an offender.

Peter Schofield, for Sheraton, said he can hardly believe the injuries he inflicted, on what began with them drinking together happily that afternoon.

He added that Sheraton now accepts he needs to address his drink problem, which is at the root of his offending.

Tom Moran, for Pringle, said she was unaware of the full extent of the injuries inflicted on her ex-partner in the street outside, and was partly responsible for persuading her son to hand himself in.

She was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must pay an £80 victim surcharge.