A PRANKSTER was stabbed in the back with a large kitchen knife after shaving the head of a friend who had fallen asleep after drinking.

Ian Norfolk, 55, stabbed his practical joker friend Peter Wynn in the back, puncturing a lung and leaving him gasping for breath when he woke to find half his head had been shaved, a court heard.

Norfolk, formerly of Stroud but now of Johnston Close, Staunton near Hartpury, had pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was found guilty by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard how Mr Wynn staggered outside his home in Bath Road, Stroud, and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Norfolk was remanded in custody after a judge heard he had a previous conviction for a knife attack.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said Norfolk’s denial had been “an attempt to pull the wool over the jury’s eyes with a singular lack of success”.

Prosecuting, Virginia Cornwall explained how the incident happened on June 14, 2012.

Norfolk, Mr Wynn and another friend went out drinking before returning to Mr Wynn’s flat to watch England in the European Cup.

Both Norfolk and the other friend fell asleep and during this time Mr Wynn went out to buy cider, she said.

When he returned, Mr Wynn and the other friend resumed drinking but Norfolk did not wake up.

“Mr Wynn is a bit of a prankster,” she said. “On a previous occasion he had clipped off some of the defendant’s hair while he slept and on this night he decided to do it again.

“The other friend woke up while he was doing it, looked at what Mr Wynn was doing, smiled and then left the flat very soon afterwards.

“The defendant’s hair was shaved off on one side, pretty inexpertly.

“There was even a slight cut on his head where he was nicked during the shaving.

“Later, Mr Wynn was sitting on the sofa when he reached over for his cider and felt a very sudden pain in his back. He looked up and saw the defendant standing in the doorway. It is accepted by the defence there was no-one else in the room with them at the time.

“The defendant, however, denied causing the injury and his case is that it was inflicted by some unknown person who attacked Mr Wynn at some other stage.”

However, the jury heard the blood stained knife which caused the injury was found on the floor of Mr Wynn’s flat.

Ms Cornwall played the jury a recording of Mr Wynn’s drunken and confused 999 call to the ambulance from outside his home.

She told the jury that a cut on Norfolk’s hand and Mr Wynn’s blood on his coat pointed to his guilt.

Remanding Norfolk in custody until April 17, Judge Tabor told him he wanted a pre-sentence report to assess how much of a future danger he poses.

He warned him to expect a jail term in the range of five to seven years.