A BOYFRIEND who flew into a rage and tried to kill his partner with a knife in a sudden and unprovoked attack is facing jail.

Andrew Burn, 22, claimed he was merely trying to frighten his then girlfriend Zoe Lonsdale, 19, into dumping him.

But he was found guilty of attempted murder with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by a majority jury verdict at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard that Burn had drunk three litres of cider and almost a litre of wine on the night of the attack on March 9.

In a rage he approached Miss Lonsdale as she lay in their bed, put a knife to her throat and said: "Don't say a word or I'll kill you."

Graham Reeds, prosecuting said the couple had lived together for six weeks in Maynard Street, Carlin How, near Brotton, in east Cleveland, where the attack happened.

Miss Lonsdale, pictured, and her family are from the Liverton Mines area of east Cleveland.

Burn, of Coniston Road, Skelton, east Cleveland, who had previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, must wait three weeks for sentence as reports are prepared.