A TEENAGER who stabbed a man in the back after being turned away from a Darlington pub has jailed for two years.

Corey Laver and a friend were banging on the door of Macy Brown’s in the early hours of the morning demanding to be let in but when he was refused he pulled out the knife.

A friend of the duty manager then confronted the teenager before chasing him, kicking him the chest and trying to disarm him near the Darlington town centre bar in the early hours of February 18.

The Northern Echo:

Teesside Crown Court heard how Laver swung a punch at the complaint while holding the knife and stabbed him in the back.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said Laver was standing at a nearby bus stop when the confrontation escalated, leaving the victim with two stab wounds.

She said: "The defendant stabbed him in the back and the complainant had to pull it out of his own back. The defendant managed to get the knife back and the complainant was stabbed again.

"The complainant was able to grab his arm and twist it and the defendant dropped the knife."

Miss Masters told the court that Laver was of previous good character bar a public order offence in January.

The court granted the complainant a three year restraining order to keep the defendant away from him.

Pictured below, Laver, of Fremantle Crescent, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article and wounding with intent.

The Northern Echo:

In mitigation, Adam Walker said the stabbing happened just a few weeks after Laver turned 18.

Reading from the victim's evidence, he said: "There had been a confrontation at the pub, he (the complainant) saw the defendant then walk to the bus stop about 100ft away from the pub.

"I decided to walk towards the male to take the knife away from him because he had threatened my with it."

Mr Walker said his client was then drop-kicked to the chest before the victim was stabbed.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Paul Watson QC told Laver he was lucky the stabbing had happened when he was 18 otherwise he would have been facing a much longer sentence.

"What happened could have ended with fatal consequences," he said. "You were carrying a knife at the time and you used it to stab him twice to the side and the back.

"There was no need for this whole incident to have descend into a scene of violence and blood.

"Young people, who carry knives with them and then use them, must realise that this is becoming an epidemic and the courts will do what it can to deal with it."

Judge Watson sentenced Laver to 24 months in custody saying: "Let me tell you that this is about a third of the sentence you would have got if you had been an adult and not pleaded guilty."