A MAN narrowly escaped death after being stabbed through the neck into his windpipe following a drinking bout on a council estate.

David Hughes attacked Matthew Cooper with a kitchen knife inside a flat in Springhill Rise, Bewdley.

There was "mutual animosity" between the two men and both wanted to prove who was the ''hardest'', defence counsel Adam Western told Worcester Crown Court.

Mr Cooper was slashed three times in his neck and had multiple cuts to his face, arms and hands as he tried to defend himself.

His vocal chords were damaged by one 10cm-deep wound and surgeons needed to perform a tracheotomy to help him breathe.

Hughes, aged 24, of Springhill Rise, was jailed for 10 years.

He pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Three years ago, Hughes, armed with a knife and scissors, stabbed another man in the hand after posing as a policeman.

Judge Michael Mott told him: "The victim escaped death by millimetres and you a life sentence by the same margin."

He warned shaven-headed Hughes that if he was convicted of another serious offence of violence he would face an automatic life term.

The judge said he needed to control his drinking, temper and aggression. Mr Cooper had known his assailant only three months before he met him and a friend Steve McKeown on the estate.

Hughes had been drinking and went off to buy more drink before staring at the victim. Both men taunted each other with comments.

When they later went to Mr McKeown's flat, Hughes "went mad" with a knife, leaving Mr Cooper covered in blood before fleeing the scene and going to his mother's home for a shower, said Mr Davis.

He added: "The victim spent eight days in hospital and was extremely lucky that a stab wound didn't sever an artery."

Hughes was interviewed by police next day but refused to answer any questions. He had two previous convictions for causing actual bodily harm and one for wounding.

David White, a witness to the attack, told police: "They were as bad as each other. They wanted to prove who was the hardest."

Hughes was shocked by the ferocity of his attack but it was not premeditated, said Mr Western.

"It was merciful that death wasn't caused," he added. "But he has shown remorse for a determined and serious assault."

The judge ordered the sentence to run consecutively to a 15-month jail term that Hughes is serving for burglary.