A DRUNKEN man who stabbed a fancy dress partygoer with an 8in kitchen knife has been locked up indefinitely for public protection.

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Andrew Phillips, 24, had drunk eight cans of beer and two further pints before trying to snatch the mortar board Nathan Bacon had been wearing. When a friend of the victim intervened, he had to be restrained.

But Southampton Crown Court heard that on being released, Phillips returned home, armed himself with the knife and sought out Mr Bacon, who he stabbed in the chest and fingers.

“He could have easily died,’’ said Judge Gary Burrell QC.

Prosecutor Roderick Blain said the victim was taken to hospital where his injuries were treated and stitched, but he was left scarred.

Phillips, of Cobden Crescent, Bitterne Park, Southampton, admitted wounding with intent, possessing a blade, common assault and theft.

Passing a five-year indeterminate sentence, the judge described Phillips’s violence as “impulsive, unpredictable and escalating”.

Richard Onslow, defending, said Phillips was deeply ashamed and shocked by his behaviour.