Teenager stabbed a stranger in the chest outside an East Boldon pub
A teenager plunged a knife into a stranger's chest during a confrontation outside a pub but the victim did not realise he had been stabbed until he woke up the next morning covered in blood.
Jack Gilroy, who was carrying an open can of alcohol and had blood on him, had been repeatedly refused entry into the Beggars Bridge bar, in Boldon, in September last year but kept trying to get in.
Newcastle Crown Court heard as the victim left the pub to get his taxi outside he asked the security worker if everything was alright and Gilroy overheard then adopted a "fighting stance".
Prosecutor Saba Shan said the victim showed no aggression and added: "The defendant was seen to strike him once to the chest area. He thought it was a punch and it caused him to feel a bit winded but there was no blood to indicate a weapon had been used.
"However, this wasn't a punch and it later transpired the defendant had actually stabbed him to the chest with a knife."
Miss Shan said the victim left in a taxi and went home but added: "On arriving at his home he felt his back was causing him some discomfort and proceeded to go to bed and it was when he woke the following morning he found he was covered in blood and realised at this point he had been stabbed to the left side of his torso."
The court heard the victim went to hospital for treatment and when police examined the clothing he had been wearing the night before they found his jacket, jumper and jeans were cut and blood stained.
The victim said he was left angry about what happened to him.
Gilroy, 19, of no fixed address, admitted wounding with intent.
Lorraine Mustard, defending, said it was "luck rather than good management" that the victim was not more seriously injured and added: "If he could go back and change everything that night he would."
Miss Mustard said Gilroy, who was 18 at the time, was homeless and told the court: "He was in a bad place and wasn't coping.
"There shouldn't be any 18-year-olds sleeping on the streets, especially when it is clear he needs ongoing support."
Mr Recorder Nathan Moxon sentenced Gilroy to 32 months behind bars.
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