A son killed his father by hurling a divers' knife from seven-feet away - then went to the pub for a drink.

Shipyard worker Joseph Freeman, 56, died in a pool of blood after the seven-inch blade thrown by Joseph Freeman jnr plunged into his neck.

After the killing, during a row at the victim's home in Trent Drive, Jarrow, on September 21 last year, Freeman, 31, fled and told pals in the bar what he had done.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Freeman jnr, a chronic alcoholic, had been the "catalyst" to trouble within the family and police had been called out to incidents relating to various members 56 times.

Prosecutor Robert Woodcock told the court; "The deceased had very recently expressed concern about the possible consequence of his son's drunken temper and feared it."

On the day of the killing the father and son had rowed over Freeman jnr's refusal to allow his partner to attend hospital to receive treatment after an alleged assault.

The court heard how Mr Freeman had prevented his son from stopping the woman leave the house which resulted in a furious row.

Mr Woodcock said: "The deceased might have expected violence after he angered his son.

"It was accepted in the cours of the fight between them the deceased armed himself with a baseball bat. "This was taken into the sitting room and he might well have held it in an aggressive manner.

"In response the defendant picked up off a wall unit a diving knife and threw it at his father.

"This can have been from a maximum of seven feet away."

The court heard how the knife severed Mr Freeman's jugular vein resulting in torrential and unstoppable blood loss.

Mr Woodcock added; "Instead of staying to assist his father he fled.

"He knew he had inflicted a potentially fatal wound becasue he confirmed as such at the public house." Freeman was arrested that night and said in interview: "I've thrown a knife, it's now as if I stabbed him."

Defence barrister Paul Sloan QC told the court how Freeman jnr was taken into care after his parents split up when he was a child.

Mr Sloan said despite the police being called out numerous times in the past it was not always as a result of Freeman jnr's violent or anti-social behaviour but other long-standing family problems.

Mr Sloan said Freeman jnr's dependence on drink has resulted in him having mental health difficulties.

Mr Sloan added; "The last thing this defendant intended to do was to cause serious injury, let alone to kill his own father.

"At the vital moment, because of the effects of alcohol, he just did not think of the consequences of his actions."

Mr Sloan said Freeman only found out his father had died when the police arrested him.

Mr Sloan said his first words to the arresting officers were "Is he dead?

Is he dead? I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't mean it to happen."

Mr Sloan added: "He simply could not believe what had happened."

Freeman pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his father during an earlier court hearing.

He was initially charged with murder but it was dropped after he entered his guilty plea to the lesser charge.

Freeman jnr, of Severn Drive, Jarrow, has 72 previous convictions for offences including dishonesty and violence.