A FORMER St Neots man has been found guilty of slashing the throat of a fellow mourner with a Stanley knife at a wake in the town. Brian Bailey of Amesbury Road, Dagenham, was found guilty at Huntingdon Crown Court of unlawfully and maliciously wounding D

A FORMER St Neots man has been found guilty of slashing the throat of a fellow mourner with a Stanley knife at a wake in the town.

Brian Bailey of Amesbury Road, Dagenham, was found guilty at Huntingdon Crown Court of unlawfully and maliciously wounding Dennis Fleming with intent, causing grievous bodily harm.

The 33-year-old denied the charge during the week-long trial, but a jury returned their verdict within a few hours of deliberations on Monday.

He cut Mr Fleming from the ear to the front of the neck on August 26 leaving a wound that was four centimetres deep and 20 centimetres long.

Bailey claimed he acted in self-defence when he slashed the throat of Mr Fleming during the wake of a man known as Gypsy Graham, at the Merry Boys pub in Berkley Street, Eynesbury.

The court was told that a row had begun when a 17-year-old boy chatted up Bailey's teenage sister. When Mr Fleming intervened to calm matters down, Bailey produced a knife from his pocket and cut Mr Fleming.

Bailey will be sentenced at a later date.