A Margate man who stabbed a teenager in the neck during a birthday party has been jailed for eight years.

Christopher Bray, 36, fled the dock at Canterbury Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of wounding with intent.

Then the knifeman – who has previous convictions for attacks on a police officer and a prison guard – sacked his barrister Matthew Heywood.

But after being remanded in custody overnight, Bray, of All Saints Avenue, abandoned his plan to represent himself and allowed his counsel to mitigate.

As he was being led away to start his sentence, he told the judge: "Your Honour, I would still like to protest my innocence."

The jury had heard how a row began during a birthday party on New Year's Day this year in which Bray was attacked and kicked in the head by one of the partygoers.

"The doctor said that I was lucky. Had the wound been a little bit deeper, the outcome could have been lethal..." - Christopher Bray's victim

Iestyn Morgan, prosecuting, told how Bray and his partner had been arguing and had been challenged by a neighbour who told him to leave.

During the fracas, Bray was kicked and punched in the face and then went into his house and armed himself with a kitchen knife.

Bray's partner shouted a warning to the young teenager, but before he reached the back door, he had been stabbed him in the back of the neck.

Bray then fled and dumped the weapon.

The victim later told police: "I now have a scar on the left side of my neck. During the injury I got a lot of pain and lost a lot of blood and I was in a state of shock when I went to the hospital.

"The doctor said that I was lucky. Had the wound been a little bit deeper, the outcome could have been lethal."

Mr Morgan said Bray was arrested and then taken to the police station where he attacked the custody sergeant.

Bray had become upset when he could not receive his medicine because there was no nurse present.

He began hitting his head against the door, demanding his tablets.

Mr Morgan added Bray then rushed out of his cell, shouting: "I'm going f****** mad" and began stripping.

He then grabbed the officer in a bear hug before being restrained - forcing the officer to punch his way free.

Bray, who denied wounding with intent but admitted assaulting Sgt Jonathan Leslie, had been drinking and taking legal highs before the knife attack.

The judge, Recorder Brian Argyle, told him: "I accept that you had suffered provocation, but that in no way excuses what you did in arming yourself with that weapon."

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