A 17-year-old dad has been locked up after brutally stabbing his friend eight times with a kitchen knife.
The teenager turned on his victim – also aged 17 – stating: “If you die, it is your fault.”
Emergency crews found the stricken boy with the attacker still nearby covered in blood at the house in Inverness.
The young thug admitted assaulting his friend to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life.
He had initially faced a charge of attempted murder.
Lord Mulholland remanded the first offender in custody pending sentencing next month.
Neither the attacker nor the victim can be identified due to their age.
The pair had been at the house with others including a mutual female friend.
‘This is what you get for speaking to me like that’
Prosecutor Stephanie Ross said one of the victim’s final memories of that night was being hit and falling into a television.
He then woke up in an ambulance and was told he had been stabbed.
But, the young woman at the house later told police the boys had been fighting before the attacker assaulted his friend with a kitchen knife.
He told his victim: “This is what you get for speaking to me like that. If you die, it is your fault.”
The injured boy ended up being treated in a high dependency unit spending a number of nights in hospital.
Accused ‘saw red’ and stabbed pal
Niall McCluskey, defending, said the young thug “saw red” amid claims his friend assaulted him first.
The advocate: “There is no dispute that there was still a potential danger of life (to the victim).”
Mr McCluskey added the teenager had a child with an “older woman”.
Lord Mulholland revoked bail pending sentencing on September 9 in Inverness.
The judge told the 17-year-old: “This was the stabbing of someone eight times with a large kitchen knife.
“His life was in peril potentially. This is a very serious matter you have pled guilty to.”
