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A terrified girlfriend thought she was going to die when her long-term partner stabbed her three times after a drunken argument.

John Halligan armed himself with the largest knife he could find and “looked like the devil” when he launched the frenzied attack on the woman in the home they shared.

Prosecutors said the 52-year-old, who has a long history of violence, had initially punched the victim and dragged her by the hair but stopped after she lay on the ground and told him she loved him.

But, instead of calming down, Halligan went to the kitchen and picked up a knife with an eight to 10-inch blade before returning and stabbing her once in the chest and twice in her arm as she tried to defend herself, a court heard.

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The woman, who was bleeding heavily, managed to escape from the house and alert a neighbour, who called the police.

Paramedics attended and the victim was taken to hospital, where the stab wound in her chest was found to have punctured her lung and narrowly missed a major artery.

Now, Halligan, of The Willows, Hedworth Estate, Jarrow, South Tyneside, has been locked-up for 10 years and 10 months after he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent at Newcastle Crown Court.

Vince Ward, prosecuting, said Halligan and his partner had been in a relationship for nine years and had been drinking for 11 hours with friends on the evening of April 1 this year.

Although the victim claimed Halligan had been violent towards her in the past, it was said there were no issues during the gathering until their pals left and an argument broke out.

Mr Ward said: “The defendant punched her in the face and pulled her hair to begin with. Her face was swollen as a result of that.

“That part of the attack stopped when she told him she loved him. He said, ‘That’s all I wanted to hear’. He then stopped punching her.

“He then went into the kitchen and selected the largest kitchen knife. He brought it into the living room and stabbed her three times.”

The victim described Halligan looking “like the devil” and how she thought she was going to die during the attack.

Mr Ward said the woman managed to escape Halligan and ran, heavily bleeding, to the house of a neighbour who immediately went to a phone box to call the police.

When officers arrived at around 1am, they described not knowing the actual colour of the victim’s top as it was covered in red blood.

She was taken to hospital - where it was discovered she had a punctured lung - and was given oxygen and a high dose of morphine while the wounds were stitched.

Meanwhile, police attended Halligan’s address and he was found sitting at a table with a can of lager.

The court was told that, when they arrested him, he said: “I know I have done wrong. I have hurt the woman I love. I deserve what I get”.

Halligan initially pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent but admitted the offence on the day of trial.

In a statement, the victim said: “Following this incident, I’m an absolute bag of nerves. I’m terrified of going out my own home. I shake every time there’s a knock on the door in case it’s him, even though I know he’s in prison.

“I constantly feel frightened and I have nightmares about what happened to me.”

Jailing Halligan, who has 22 past convictions for 32 offences, many for violence, Judge Amanda Rippon said it was pure luck the victim had survived as the blade had narrowly missed a major artery.

She said: “She had a significant stab wound to the front right side of her chest, which, when examined, was a puncturing injury, which went right between her second and third rib and into her lung.

“Although no major blood vessels had been severed, that was pure luck.”

Jane Foley, mitigating, said both had been drinking and Halligan couldn’t remember all of the attack but found it difficult to accept he intended to hurt the “woman he loved”.

Ms Foley added: “It’s a terrible shame for a man of 52 years who has had his own problems in life. He suffered a serious brain injury from a car accident when he was 23. He’s suffered from depression, on-and-off.

“Most of his life he has been an industrious man.”

Ms Foley also said Halligan had refused to admit he had an alcohol problem in the past but was now realising there was an issue.