A HIGH risk knife attacker who wounded a man in the neck in an Auchinleck street has been jailed for more than six years.

Colin Drummond chased David Cuthbert in Old Avenue and tried to strike him with the weapon before inflicting injuries to the victim.

A judge told the 30-year-old at the High Court in Edinburgh: "For such a serious crime there is no suitable alternative to a prison sentence."

Lord Beckett said a jail term was required to punish him, to deter him and others from using weapons and to an extent to protect the public.

The judge said: "Your record is a bad one, but you appear to recognise some of the issues in your life.

"There is an opportunity for you to get some of those problems addressed in prison."

He told Drummond that he had an incentive to turn his life around as he has a young child, and added: "I hope you do."

Drummond was originally charged with attempting to murder Mr Cuthbert on March 22 last year, but the Crown earlier accepted his guilty plea to a reduced charge of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of life.  

The court heard that there was a confrontation after Mr Cuthbert turned up with a friend, who demanded that Drummond come outside.

Advocate depute Lindsey Dalziel said the other man said his intention "was to talk to Drummond about a disagreement from years ago that had not been settled".

But Drummond, who has previous convictions for assault and weapons offences, came out armed with a knife and pursued the pair before striking Mr Cuthbert twice on the left side of the neck.

The injured attack victim underwent exploratory surgery and was in hospital for several days.

Defence counsel Ronnie Renucci KC said Drummond was assessed as posing a high risk, and he recognised that a jail sentence was the only option available to the court.

He said: "It was an instinctive offence and not one that was premeditated.

"This is not a case where he decided to go out that night looking for trouble."

Mr Renucci said Drummond had shown signs of victim empathy to the writer of a background report prepared on him, and recognised the physical harm and mental impact of the offence, having previously been a victim himself.

Lord Beckett ordered that Drummond should be kept under supervision for a further three year period, and told him that if he breached licence conditions during that time he could be returned to prison.