A MAN who carried out a knife attack, taunting his victim about a conviction for sexual abuse, has been jailed for three years.

But a court heard that attacker Bernard Edwards had also carried out indecent assaults himself in the past.

Preston Crown Court was told that he punched, stabbed and broke a finger of friend Terence Taraldson after they had been drinking together for much of a day.

Edwards, 41, of Ivinson Road, Darwen, had pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The defendant claimed there had been some provocation by the other man after they argued about a sexual assault. At a previous hearing Edwards suggested that he himself had been grabbed by the throat.

Mr Darren Preston, prosecuting, said Edwards punched his victim in the face, stabbed him in the abdomen and then below the eye. He also broke the little finger on the left hand. The defendant told him: "You'll never harm a child again."

The other man took this as a reference to a previous conviction for indecent assault. However, the court heard that in 1999 Edwards was put on probation for an offence of indecent assault.

Mr Tim White, defending, said Edwards had surrendered himself at the time. He had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and knew he would have to go to prison.