A TEENAGER was jailed yesterday for a stabbing which left his victim with life-threatening injuries.

Anthony Harker, 19, admitted wounding Daniel Black, now 20, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, on January 7, when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

Harker, of Appleby Avenue, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, had originally been charged with attempted murder, but his plea of guilty to a lesser charge was accepted.

Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said the two teenagers had a "short but intense history of animosity towards each other" as Mr Black believed Harker had broken into his car and Harker in turn thought Mr Black had damaged Harker's father's car.

They met by chance, he said, while Mr Black was with three friends in Arnside Avenue.

There was a confrontation, and a fight began after Mr Black hit Harker in the mouth.

Soon it became clear, he said, that Mr Black had been stabbed four times by Harker, who was brandishing a penknife.

Mr Black had been stabbed to the neck, chest and stomach. One wound caused internal bleeding that could have been fatal, said Mr Reeds, had it not been for "alert medical staff".

Tony Calloway, for Harker, said his client had no previous convictions for violence and had been confronted by Mr Black.

He said the incident was "unplanned and impulsive", the knife came to be drawn in a moment of panic and it was an isolated matter. After the incident, he said, Harker had been beaten up by people who knew Mr Black.

Judge Peter Fox, QC, said the attack was out of character but only a custodial sentence was justified.

He sentenced him to two-and-a-half years