A WALTER Mitty "war veteran" who stabbed another former soldier to death was jailed for more than seven years as a court heard of a lifetime of fanciful lies.

Ian McLaughlin claimed to have been a prisoner of war, a decorated paratrooper who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and left the army after a battle injury.

The truth is he joined the forces at 18 as a driver, lasted just 13 months before being booted out for poor performance, and never left his base in Wiltshire.

He told his wife that he had Parkinson's Disease when she discovered he had had an affair, and after later leaving her and their daughter, claimed to have cancer.

But in fact, he has suffered from neither, nor any serious physical condition, although he is classed as "borderline personality disorder" by psychiatrists.

McLaughlin – born John Bevan Hand – told friends at a centre for former soldiers at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, that he had six months to live in April.

They were invited to his flat for a drink and tried to console their friend, but the night was to end in tragedy with the death of 34-year-old Craig Guy.

He was stabbed through the heart by his "best friend" in what a court heard described variously as "Army banter" and "an outrageously dangerous act".

Mr Guy, 34, a father-of-one who was originally from Sunderland and grew up in Washington, was said to have "dared" McLoughlin to use the 12cms-bladed kitchen knife on him.

Others at the gathering said the victim was still standing and laughing after being stabbed, and told McLaughlin: "Thank you mate, I've got real respect for you."

He then collapsed and emergency services were called while the men there tried to revive Mr Guy, with McLaughlin attempting resuscitation when police arrived.

Yet the scheming liar – who said he had intended only to "tap or prick his chest" – was still thinking only of himself by telling officers he was going to die soon.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley, QC, told Teesside Crown Court that McLaughlin even wore a Paratroop Regiment uniform adorned with medals he had never earned.

"He was, and remains, an habitual liar," Mr Lumley told the court yesterday. "He had joined the army at the age of 18, and was discharged a little over a year later.

"A report recommending his discharge describes his performance as poor, marked by a lack of interest and an inability to motivate himself, despite repeated warnings."

McLaughlin, whose address on court papers is The Beacon, Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison, admitted manslaughter and was jailed for seven years and four months.

The court heard how Mr Guy had picked up the knife in the kitchen and asked what it was for. McLaughlin said it was to kill him – a comment not taken seriously.

Mr Lumley said: "An exchange that was described by all the witnesses as being 'banter' between the two then took place, in the course of which Craig Guy 'dared' the defendant to stab him, handing him the knife and saying 'go on then'.

"One witness in the room has it 'Craig held his chest putting his hands up to the wound, then I saw some blood. Craig was still stood up and laughing, and said 'good crack'. It was weird'.

"Another gave a similar description, saying 'It was strange. Craig seemed quite joyous about it and even shook Ian's hand. It appeared to be a laugh and a joke'."

The tragedy destroyed the lives of Mr Guy's family – including father John, mother Margaret and sister Victoria – and stunned communities across Wearside.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, told McLaughlin: "By your act, you have deprived loving parents of their son, a son of his father and a sister of her brother.

"You have devastated their lives, and those of Craig's extended family and many friends. No sentence I can pass will even begin to compensate them for their loss.

"They may never recover from their loss. Only you know how you will come to terms with what you have done, but I suspect you will spend more of your time thinking of yourself rather than others.

"You have repeatedly claimed that you have killed your best friend and any punishment I impose will be transient in comparison to their loss. It is permanent.

"You may not have intended to have killed him or caused him grievous bodily harm, but certain it is that before and after that dreadful act, you behaved in an utterly self-indulgent manner."

Richard Wright, QC, mitigating, said: "What occurred was a terribly misjudged episode of wholly inappropriate horseplay, no doubt clouded by a significant amount of drink the defendant had taken.

"Nobody foresaw – those watching or the defendant – that there was going to be any significant risk to the deceased. It happened so quickly, and in such exceptional circumstances that everybody was taken aback by the terrible consequences."