Man jailed five years for stabbing builder

A man has been jailed for five years for stabbing a builder in a long-running row over a bill.

Andrew Mills, 36, admitted wounding John Baker outside a pub in Maesteg, Bridgend, last February.

Newport Crown Court heard Mills had made more than 30 complaints of harassment and obtained a restraining order against Baker before the incident.

The pair had been neighbours and friends until a dispute broke out between them over a bill for building work carried out by Baker a number of years ago, the court heard.

The dispute was taken to the county court but Baker pursued a campaign of harassment against Mills.

Mills obtained a restraining order against Baker in June 2006, but in February both men were drinking in the King Alfred and Mills asked the police to throw him out.

The police decided Baker was not breaching the order and Mills left, before returning with a kitchen knife and stabbing Baker in the toilets.

Mills was initially charged with attempted murder but that charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent.