A nursery worker from Pershore College of Horticulture launched a frenzied knife attack on his "only friend" at the place they both worked.

Neil Spencer threw water over Richard Harris as they larked about at a disco and the pair engaged in a short fight outside before going their separate ways.

Angry Harris then armed himself with a kitchen knife, stood in front of Mr Spencer on the college campus, and stabbed him in the stomach without speaking, said William Rickarby, prosecuting.

"He went absolutely berserk, thrusting the knife in deeply," he said. Mr Spencer, a 25-year-old maintenance worker, also sustained wounds to his back, chin and right hand. His liver was damaged. A student managed to disarm Harris who said he wanted to kill himself, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Mr Spencer needed a blood transfusion and spent three weeks recovering in hospital. He still suffers from acute anxiety and nightmares.

Harris, aged 22, of Farleigh Road, Pershore, was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He confessed immediately on arrest and hated what he had done, said Mr Rickarby. But later he blotted out the horror attack and could not recall it.

Both men had been drinking at a college disco on August 2 this year. A barman described Harris as depressed and morbid.

"He made one friend and that was Neil Spencer," said Mr Martin Butterworth, defending. "He is at an utter loss to understand why he behaved as he did."

Mr Justice Hughes said: "This was a terrible attack with a knife which left permanent scars. The victim is unable to lead a normal life." The judge accepted that the crime was out of character. He recorded a not guilty verdict on an alternative charge of attempted murder.