A man has been jailed for a stabbing which almost claimed the life of his victim.
Louie Holmes, 31, armed himself with a kitchen knife after a man came to his Wigton home at around 2am on February 3.
There had been a verbal disagreement between the pair during an earlier phone call.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the visitor was set on confrontation and holding a screwdriver.
Holmes picked up a kitchen knife to scare off the man, not wishing to face him unarmed.
Holmes came out of the address and advanced towards him while carrying the blade.
There was a scuffle, both men fell to the ground and there followed a physical altercation before Holmes went too far in a bid to defend himself.
“Holmes proceeded to stab the complainant in the right thigh, near to the groin,” said prosecutor Lucy Todd.
The man suffered what a judge observed was an horrific wound to his upper inner thigh in which a paramedic was later observed to place almost an entire finger.
As bystanders rushed to help, one used a belt as a makeshift tourniquet which, the court heard, probably saved the victim’s life.
Paramedics and police noted heavy blood pooling at the scene.
The man was immediately resuscitated by medics in hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was detained for several days.
In two impact statements, the man described suffering poor mental and physical health since the incident.
He had struggled to sleep, suffered flashbacks along with brain fog, and had since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The incident had a knock-on effect on my whole family,” he said.
Holmes admitted unlawfully wounding the man and illegal possession of a blade in public. He had previous convictions for a separate wounding crime and attempted robbery on his criminal record.
Defence barrister Gerard Rogerson said the potential for tragedy was not lost on the defendant.
“He needs to grow up and he knows that,” said the lawyer, who spoke of Holmes’ positive progress on remand in custody, and supportive family members.
Recorder Julian Shaw imposed a 42-month jail term for what he called an appalling attack which, he said, came within a gnat’s whisker of killing the victim.
“Were it not for the clear, level-headed, immediate response of members of the public, to add a tourniquet to the man’s upper right thigh, he would quite simply have bled out on the street,” said the judge.
Holmes was also given a restraining order, banning him from contacting his victim for six-and-a-half years.
