A BERRIEW man flew into a rage with a guest at his house, grabbed a knife and tried to cut off his ear, Chester Crown Court heard.
David Harold Finch, 47, of Brook Terrace, Berriew, has been jailed for three years for the knife attack on Robert Swayles, which took place at a house party on June 8, 2011.
Finch, who had been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, tried cutting the face of Mr Swayles with an eight-inch kitchen knife because he went to the kitchen and helped himself to a glass of water without asking permission.
The court heard how Mr Swayles had to use all his strength to prevent the knife being brought down onto his face and how the incident could have been far worse had a woman at the party, Rebecca Pierce, not bravely intervened.
Mr Nicholas Williams, prosecuting, told how Finch went into a rage when Mr Swayles helped himself to a glass of water.
He said: “He began to shout at him to get out or he would cut his ear off.
“Mr Swayles did not take him seriously but went to the kitchen to get his bag so that he could leave.
“But the defendant took a stainless steel kitchen knife with an eight inch blade, held it above his head and lunged at Mr Swayles.
“Rebecca Pierce bravely jumped up and stood between them and told him to put the knife down.
“But the defendant lunged at him over the top of her and then pushed her out of the way.
“Mr Swayles reached out and grabbed the attacker’s arm which held the knife to try to restrain him.
“He was using all his strength to prevent him bringing the knife down on to his face, it was inches from his face.
“During the struggle both ended up falling onto a coffee table which smashed, but Mr Swayles was eventually able to disarm him.
“He ran out of the house with Miss Pierce and rang the police.”
As a result of the attack, Miss Pierce had a one inch cut between the fingers of her left hand and he escaped with a cut to the leg which was caused not by the knife but when they fell onto the coffee table.
When spoken to by the police, Finch said: “I did not mean to hurt Becky. She went to grab the knife and cut her hand. It was the chap she was with I was after. I wanted to cut his ear off.”
Mr Jonathan Austin, defending, said: “He would say through me that he did something silly but he did not carry out the threat.
“He is clearly not a straight forward personality.
“The things that he said that night do not mean that he is a serious danger.”
Judge Niclas Parry it had been a “terrifying incident”.
“You attribute your actions to your mental health problems, but you lost control because you had taken drink and drugs,” he said.