A MAN who stabbed a party goer with a machete after he and his wife complained about music being played too loud has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Joseph McGlade stabbed the victim in the buttock and the hand with the “fearsome” weapon in what a judge agreed was a case of self-defence gone too far.

The 47-year-old had gone to the defence of his wife Nicola when she got into a fight with the occupants of the adjoining flat in Moorbeck Way, Spencerbeck, Middlesbrough, after complaining about the noise.

Teesside Crown Court heard how there had been at least three requests to turn the music down and a visit from a Police Community Support Officer to the premises on the evening of April 24 this year.

But the music was later turned back up which Recorder Simon Batiste said caused McGlade and his wife a great deal of anxiety.

After Mrs McGlade had banged on the flat door and rang the bell, a fight broke out and her husband armed himself with the machete and struck out at the victim.

The cut to the injured man’s buttock went all the way to the muscle.

McGlade, who has 157 criminal offences to his name, including offences of violence, possessing offensive weapons and dishonesty, was said by his barrister David Lamb to have a complicated psychiatric history.

The defendant had spent five months in custody since being convicted earlier this year of unlawful wounding and possessing a bladed article following a trial. He had denied the offences.

Recorder Batiste said having considered all the factors involved and the period McGlade had already spent behind bars he could suspend a jail sentence on him.

The judge said he accepted a lack of pre-meditation in McGlade’s actions and that he perceived he was defending his wife.

However he said: “What you did went beyond what could be regarded as reasonable self-defence.

“These were unpleasant injuries caused by a fearsome weapon.”

McGlade received a 20 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay a £1,200 court surcharge. He will also enrol on an anger management programme.

The judge said of the suspended sentence: “This is something that will be hanging over your head to ensure your good behaviour over the next few years.”

After the case relatives of the victim, who had been in court, complained that the sentence was too lenient.

They said they could not understand why someone with mental health difficulties and a history of possessing weapons had not received a further jail term.