A drunken attacker who had a “broken heart” when he knifed two men in the street has been jailed.
Alan Baker and his victims had been drinking separately in the same bar where Baker was trying to drown his sorrows after losing his 15-year-old Jack Russell.
When Baker saw them outside he approached them and slashed at their throats with a craft knife, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Neil Hudson suffered a wound to his neck which required 33 stitches.
Ceri Hollister also suffered a slash to his neck which caused a less serious wound.
But as Baker pursued Mr Hollister around a parked car a third man, Jonathan Field, stepped in and and separated them
The court heard Mr Field later found Baker in nearby Castle Park, discarded Baker’s knife and helped him home.
It emerged Baker was suffering the bereavement of a Jack Russell dog which had to be put down, which caused him to drink heavily.
Baker, 59, of Champion Square in St Pauls, Bristol, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, attempted wounding with intent and possessing a blade on August 25.
The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC found him to be a dangerous offender who presented a significant risk to the public of serious harm.
On Friday, Judge Peter Blair QC sentenced Baker to an 11-year extended jail term, comprising of nine years custody and the remainder on licence.
He told Baker: “You had that knife with you, you did take it out and you did commit these very serious offences.”
The judge awarded Mr Field £250 from the High Sheriff’s Fund.
He said: “It is for his public-spirited actions in intervening in a dispute where you (Baker) were brandishing a sharp knife towards Mr Hollister having slashed Mr Hudson.”
Richard Posner, prosecuting, said friends Mr Hudson and Hollister came from South Wales to Bristol to see a band and drank in the Long Bar beforehand.
But when they left to get a takeaway Baker, who had also been in the pub, passed by them before turning, producing a knife and slashing at them.
Mr Hudson suffered wounds to his neck and chin and required 33 stitches, the court heard.
Baker then pursued Mr Hollister, at walking pace, around a parked car and cut him.
Mr Posner said: “There was then an intervention by a member of the public who demonstrated a remarkable act of bravery.
“Jonathan Field and Ellie Brine arrived and Mr Field tried to calm the defendant down.
“The defendant was angry, said they had been winding him up all night and he had had enough.”
The court heard Mr Field, as well as Miss Brine, did their best to diffuse the situation before Baker walked off.
Mr Posner added: “Mr Field found the defendant lying down in Castle Park.
“He and Miss Brine took him home and Mr Field discarded the knife.
“He offered him help and made sure that he was safe.”
Mr Posner said no evidence was found of a catalyst for the knife attack.
Earlier Baker was seen with a machete in the bar, but the landlady confiscated it, the court heard.
When Baker was arrested he said he was a “good guy who lost the plot that night”.
John Stokes, defending, said when Baker was aged three his dad shot his pregnant mum dead.
Mr Stokes told the court one of Baker’s brothers shot himself dead in the United States.
The court heard Baker drank heavily after the death of his beloved pet dog, who he owned for 15 years and treated like a human.
Mr Stokes said: “It broke his heart. He was in an emotional state arising from the loss of that dog.”
It was Baker’s case that he only had the knife for a trip to his allotment, and in his drunken state he took umbrage after he believed he had been sworn at in the bar.
