A MAN who stabbed a teenager to death after a drink and drugs binge was jailed for life yesterday.

The trial of 20-year-old Sean Matson was in its fifth day and the prosecution had just ended its case when he changed his plea.

Matson had denied murdering 17-year-old Chris Cave and claimed he could remember nothing of their fight in June because he had drunk six litres of cider, vodka, and had taken diazepam.

But his barrister, Neil Davey, told Teesside Crown Court that Matson had changed his plea after hearing evidence from others at the scene and those he spoke to after the stabbing.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, said Matson had violently and repeatedly stabbed the teenager to death "without the slightest provocation or any possible acceptable excuse".

Mr Davey had told the court that Matson, of Langthwaite Walk, Redcar, was a "youngster of extreme immaturity" who had a long history of alcohol and substance abuse.

On the night of the killing, Matson had gone to the home of Chris's best friend, Danny Armstrong, in Burnmoor Close, Redcar, and started throwing stones at the window, demanding cannabis.

When Mr Armstrong said he no longer smoked the drug, an argument started.

Matson left, armed himself with a large knife, and returned a short time later.

The jury heard that Matson waved the knife and said "You're not so hard now, are you?" before stabbing the teenager four times, once through the heart.

Mr Davey told the judge that Matson was not inherently evil but someone who suffered a mixture of disbelief, shock and concern when he was told the victim had died.

A mother's nightmare - Page 5