A NIGHTMARE neighbour is starting a five-year prison sentence for stabbing the man who lived above her in a block of flats.

Mary Jones and her husband Keith were facing eviction after a series of complaints of anti-social behaviour from Eddie Reilly.

After spending a day drinking, Jones went upstairs to speak to Mr Reilly - but was armed with a kitchen knife with a nine-inch blade.

Mr Reilly, 59, suffered a punctured lung when 57-year-old Jones plunged the blade into his chest on June 14.

She admitted a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at an earlier appearance at Teesside Crown Court.

Jones appeared on Thursday via a live video-link from Low Newton Prison in Durham, wearing a white t-shirt, and spoke only to confirm her name.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, also imposed a lifetime restraining order on Jones to stop her going near or contacting Mr Reilly or his wife, Gillian, 41.

Jones is now almost certainly going to be kicked out of her flat in Woodside, Redcar, the court heard.

Prosecutor Nick Dry said Mr Reilly described Jones as "a neighbour from hell" and lots of the problems over the last 16 years stemmed from her heavy drinking.

He said Jones and her husband had been notified by their landlord that there had been an adjudication of anti-social behaviour and potential eviction.

Jones went upstairs to see Mr Reilly and at first did not give the appearance of being angry as they had a brief conversation.

Mr Dry said Mr Jones went at the upstairs flat twice and tried to encourage his wife to leave, but she refused and continued to drink.

"It was when the complainant told her that he thought she should return to avoid any argument, she produced a large kitchen knife which she had taken from a block at her address," added Mr Dry.

"She stabbed him to the right side of his chest. He describes trying to pull it out of his chest while fighting against the defendant who, he believed, was trying to push the knife further into him.

"After pulling it out, she struck out again with the knife, causing a two-inch slash wound to the complainant's right forearm."

 The court heard that Jones had been drinking all day before visiting Mr Reilly at 5.45pm, and he lawyer Andrew Turton said she had also taken prescription medicine "in quantities".

"The offence itself is one that the defendant has little recollection of," said Mr Turton. "She has no recollection of the event or the preparatory steps leading up to it.

"There is some history between the parties in terms of general neighbour issues, and I suggest the trigger in this instance was the threat of eviction following a complaint from her neighbour.

"It was a large kitchen knife and the injury could have been a lot more serious. Fortunately, it didn't penetrate too far into the body of the injured party.

"There was a punctured lung, but, thankfully, nothing more than that."

The judge told her: "For no good reason and without provocation you used that knife. It was a serious injury."