A MAN yesterday admitted wounding a woman in a confrontation which sparked an armed stand-off with police.

John Piggins pleaded guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm to Dawn Elliott in the incident at her house, in Leadgate, County Durham.

Ms Elliott, 32, received hospital treatment after being stabbed in the leg before she fled from the house in the early hours of the morning.

Piggins, 32, of Cross Street, Leadgate, was arrested 11 hours later, after giving himself up to police who had surrounded the council house in Willow Crescent.

He appeared at Durham Crown Court yesterday, where he denied a second charge, of causing an affray, arising out of the incident on June 25.

The case was adjourned, and Piggins was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the court on August 7.

Following his guilty plea to the wounding charge, pre-sentence reports on Piggins were ordered from the probation service by Judge George Moorhouse.