AN EX-CONVICT who knifed his dad after a Christmas Day drinking session is behind bars for 21 months -- and was warned by a judge to stay away from him in future.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Mark Jackson, 33, who was originally charged with attempted murder and who has already served 15 months after he was said to have attacked his father with a hammer, left him needing seven stitches above his eye.

The victim, Malcolm Alderson, was said to have made unpleasant comments about Jackson's mother as the pair were planning their festive dinner together.

Jackson, whose counsel said the defendant and victim did not have a normal father and son relationship, had previous convictions for assault, police assault, affray and possessing an offensive weapon.

Jailing him, Judge Raymond Bennett said although he was certainly a danger to his dad, he could not be satisfied Jackson was a danger to the public so he could not pass a longer than normal sentence.

He told the court the defendant had had a "fairly charmed life," so far as sentences in the past were concerned, and if ever a case had called for a

longer sentence, this was it.

The judge warned Jackson it would be better for both father and son if they kept apart and added it was not good to see him in the dock a second

time after injuring the victim. The knife used in the assault had never been found.

Jackson, of Florence Street, Burnley, admitted unlawful wounding last December 25.

Julian Taylor, prosecuting, said the defendant lunged at his father Malcolm Alderson and stabbed him just above his left eye, inflicting a three and a half centimetre wound on his forehead and leaving a large pool of blood on the floor.

Mr Alderson was taken to Burnley General Hospital and X rayed and Jackson was arrested on January 9 at the house on Scarlett Street, Burnley, where he was then living.

The defendant claimed his father had had a carving knife and had become aggressive and he had felt the point of the weapon in his back.

Anthony Cross, defending, said custody was inevitable but the question was how long the sentence would be.

The defendant's offences against members of the public and police had been relatively insignificant and the truth of what happened on Christmas Day fell between the two camps.

Jackson claimed he was not the first person to make contact and that his father had gone round to his house. His father went to get some more cans, did not return and so Jackson went to his home where the drinking continued and the row about the defendant's mother carried on.

Mr Cross said parents should try and lead by example and by the time the defendant was born, his father had built up a very significant record of

convictions.

Jackson's formative years were spent without the comfort of a father because Mr Alderson was in and out of jail.

The barrister claimed Jackson and Mr Alderson did not have the "normal father and son relationship." He went on:"Almost from the moment of conception, Mr Alderson's record has been mirrored by his son."