A WAITER from Okehampton has been jailed for stabbing his best friend in the back after seeing him dancing with his partner.

Christopher Gouveia slapped his girlfriend Alexandra Souza, leaving her with a bloody nose, before attacking Bruno Mateus with a kitchen kife when he went to her aid.

Gouveia was drunk, having consumed two bottles of sambuca and one of whisky during a pre-Christmas celebration at his friend's home in Okehampton. He flew into a rage when he woke to find Mr Mateus and Miss Souza dancing together, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He slapped Miss Souza, took her home to the flat in the Arcade, then hit her again, causing a nosebleed. She rang Mr Mateus, who came over with other friends. It was then that Gouveia stabbed Mr Mateus, in the Arcade.

Gouveia, 24, admitted wounding Mr Mateus, having a kitchen knife as a weapon, and assault by battery on Miss Souza.

He was jailed for 12 months by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, who told him: 'You accept you caused three wounds through recklessness when you were carrying this knife and used it in the course of a struggle.

'I take into account you were drunk and have no previous convictions but this was a serious offence. You had used violence on your girlfriend, causing her a nosebleed and Mr Mateus came to challenge you about that assault.

'When he left the flat you took the kitchen knife and in the struggle he was stabbed in the back, one of the wounds being three centimetres deep. You told the probation officer you stabbed him because you felt trapped and panicked. In view of the fact that you used the knife and stabbed him three times it would not be right to suspend this sentence.'

Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said the attack happened just over a week before Christmas when Gouveia spent the evening drinking so heavily that the others had never seen him so drunk before.

She said: 'He ran down the staircase, which was a considerable distance, towards Mr Mateus and they came together. The defendant was very angry and pushed him against the window of a café.

'He was asked to calm down but was heard to say he was going to kill Mr Mateus who then felt what he thought were punches in his back. He punched Gouveia twice in the face but then realised he was bleeding from his back.'

Gouveia told police he had taken two litre bottles of sambuca and one of whisky to the party. He fell asleep while watching football and awoke to find Mr Mateus and Miss Souza dancing very close.

He said he later grabbed the knife for protection because Mr Mateus is much bigger than him and had used it without realising what he was doing.

Nick Bradley, defending, said Gouveia had come to Britain a few months earlier in search of a better life and that he risked losing his job and accommodation if sent to jail.