A MAN produced a knife during a confrontation while with his brother walking his dog on a summer’s evening, a court heard.

But Michael Joseph Watson not only took out the three to four-inch-bladed weapon, he thrust it into the left side of the abdomen of the 32-year-old victim.

Durham Crown Court heard that the injured man recalled feeling “terrible pain”, and then saw he was bleeding, before falling to the ground.

Liam O’Brien, prosecuting, said Walker and his brother left the scene and an air ambulance was summoned to fly the victim to hospital for emergency treatment.

Mr O’Brien said the victim underwent surgery for the deep incision to his abdominal cavity, which also caused an injury to the small bladder.

He spent five days in hospital, but was still in pain on his release, although it was not thought there would be any long-term complications, other than localised scarring.

But, the court was told it caused his wife and young family great upset and restricted activities he was able to take part in with his children.

He has also since avoided groups of people when out, in case something similar happened again.

Mr O’Brien said the incident, on Friday June 12, took place after the Watson brothers, while walking the dog, passed an address in Reeth Place, Newton Aycliffe, where a garden barbecue was being held.

Two brothers from the house recognised Watson, as someone they believed was responsible for domestic violence on their mother 20 years earlier.

Words were exchanged with Watson’s brother and then the victim and his own brother appeared to join the confrontation, while carrying planks of wood, collected to place on the barbecue.

When Watson was arrested he claimed he acted in self-defence, but he subsequently pleaded ‘guilty’ to offences of unlawful wounding and possessing a knife in public.

Mr O’Brien said it was accepted it went beyond what could be considered “reasonable” self-defence.

It was also accepted the victim had not been one of those involved in the initial confrontation.

The court heard 48-year-old Watson, of Osbert Place, Newton Aycliffe, has 35 convictions for 97 offences, but only four of those were for violence.

Paul Cleasby, mitigating, said Watson had made a concerted attempt to steer clear of trouble since his release from his last sentence, and had gone almost six years since the previous offence.

Mr Cleasby said Watson had to be persuaded to join his brother that evening to walk the dog as he had become, “almost a recluse”.

His mistake was to take the knife with him, although Mr Cleasby said there was no element of pre-meditation and Watson was taking the lead trying to get away from the confrontation, but feared for his brother’s safety seeing men with planks of wood.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Simon Hickey said instead of walking away, Watson produced the knife, “with such serious consequences”.

He added that the taking of the knife in the first place was as much a crime as producing it during what, up to then, had been a verbal clash.