A 36-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for five years for stabbing another man in a New Years' Eve brawl in a Worcestershire pub.

Fighting broke out when two groups of men met in the Old Crown in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Scott Coughtrie, prosecuting, told the court that one of the groups came from the travelling community and numbered about a dozen.

The other one contained about five or six and included Jai Redding, who had gone to Stourport because he thought he would get into trouble if he went out in Kidderminster.

Some members of the groups knew each other and though the evening started well, both had been drinking. The group containing Redding went out onto a decking area followed by the others.

"There was some shouting and then a melee involving a number of people," Mr Coughtrie said.

A bottle was smashed over Redding's head and he saw someone with a knife. He grabbed the knife and lashed out in self defence but went too far, the court heard.

CCTV images showed him grappling with another man, Bobby Holland, who was cut to the arm and shoulder. Redding then stabbed him twice in the abdomen, penetrating internal organs.

Mr Holland was treated in hospital and medical staff suggested the injuries would have been potentially life-threatening if they had not been treated.

Redding, who has been in custody since his arrest on January 7 and whose address was given as HMP Hewell, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and to having a knife in a public place. The court heard he had previously been in prison for violent offences and had been given a ten year sentence for robbery.

Michael Aspinall, defending, said he had not taken the knife with him but had disarmed someone when the fight started.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Mr Aspinall said. "He had never intended to go back to prison."

Redding, he said, had had problems with drugs but now had a new partner and had settled down. He had used his time in prison to take educational courses.

Judge Robert Juckes, QC, warned Redding he would be facing an indefinite sentence if he was involved in a similar offence again.

"The knife penetrated vital organs and could have resulted in death. You could have been looking at a life sentence with a minimum of fifteen years," he told Redding.

Redding was given five years for the wounding offence with three years concurrent for having a knife.