a CCTV image has been released showing the moment a knife maniac selected a victim at random and plunged a blade into his face.

Security cameras picked up Neil Longstaff standing in the doorway of a pub, watching customers leave at closing time.

He picked out 25-year-old Jamie Boothe and grabbed him around the neck.

As Mr Boothe tried to pull away, he produced a razor-sharp craft knife from his sleeve and slashed him down the cheek.

The pictures were released by police yesterday as Longstaff was jailed for four years at Newcastle Crown Court.

The incident happened as the men, who were strangers, left the Roker Hotel in Sunderland, at closing time on March 6.

CCTV footage from the premises shows Longstaff, 48, watching other customers leaving the bar before Mr Boothe came out.

Bridie Smurthwaite, prosecuting, told the court: "The complainant felt a blow to his left cheek and he thought he had been punched.

"At that point, Mr Boothe's friend dragged him away and pointed out he was bleeding.

"It was then he saw his clothes were covered in blood and he realised he had been stabbed."

The court heard how Longstaff made off from the scene to the nearby Anchor Lodge guest house where he was arrested in his room later that night.

He admitted to police he had singled out Mr Boothe but could give no explanation why.

Mr Boothe, who comes from Yorkshire but was living and working in Sunderland,was taken to hospital for treatment.

Longstaff, of Kettlewell Drive, Bradford, West Yorkshire, admitted wounding with intent at an earlier hearing.

His barrister, Brian Russell, told the court yesterday: "This is a highly irrational and inexplicable event."