Grieving Sunderland son beat girlfriend unconscious and stabbed her brother after dad's funeral

Karl Gough lashed out when he got back to his victims' home and realised there was a "party" going on while he was mourning.Newcastle Crown Court heard the 24-year-old picked up a serrated carving knife from the kitchen when the row, which started inside the house in Hendon, Sunderland, spilled outside.His girlfriend Elizabeth Harrison, 22, suffered a cut to her hand when she tried to disarm, before he punched and kicked her unconscious.Gough then plunged the knife into her brother Alfie Harrison, 31.The court heard the blade went through Mr Harrison's abdominal wall, lacerated his liver and badly damaged his gall bladder, which had to be removed.Mr Harrison "thought he was going to die" as a result of the injury.The court heard when Miss Harrison regained consciousness she saw her badly injured brother was also on the ground.Prosecutor Jolyon Perks told the court: "When she woke up she saw her brother lying some distance away on the road."He was bleeding from a right side stomach injury. "Gough left the scene after the stabbing but was arrested at a nearby house with "blood on his hands, face and neck area".Mr Harrison was taken to hospital for surgery a few has been left with scars.He said in an impact statement he can no longer enjoy his boxing or motor cycling hobbies ad a result of his injuries and has left the area due to the impact the attack has had on him.Miss Harrison said in her statement: "I hope he is sorry for what he did."Our relationship is over. I never want to see him again."The court heard Miss Harrison had been in a relationship with Gough for around a year and had she had attended his father's funeral with him on July 21.Mr Perks said some of the funeral party had gone out drinking in Sunderland after the service.The court heard trouble started when they got back to Miss Harrison's home, where her brother lived part-time, in the early hours of the next morning and there was a "party" going on.Vic Laffey, defending, said: "There was music going, something of a party going on."That, quite naturally caused him a significant amount of upset."Mr Laffey said an argument developed quickly. Mr Laffey added: "Short of the day when this man's father actually died, this is the most disastrous day of this man's life."Gough, of no fixed address, admitted wounding with intent, assault and having an offensive weapon.Mr recorder Simon Kealey QC sentenced him to nine years behind bars with a lifelong restraining order to keep him away from the victims.The judge said many people do not survive such a knife blow that Mr Harrison suffered.The judge told Gough: "I accept, almost without hesitation, that this evening was the most disastrous of your life, save for the day your father died."I accept you would have been upset by the music and party that was going on but you acted in a way that night which was extremely violent and which,you concede, can only be met by a sentence, and a very significant sentence, of imprisonment. "