A man who stabbed a rival nine times with a pitch fork in a row about offensive graffiti has been jailed for three years.

Seirgio Drover Perinchief, 23, caused victim Matthew Sousa to suffer serious chest injuries including bleeding to his lungs.

In submissions to his sentencing hearing at Supreme Court this week, Crown Counsel Cindy Clarke said Mr. Sousa arrived at his cousin Kevin Sousa's house in Devonshire around 4 p.m on October 10 2007.

Matthew Sousa noticed that there was graffiti written in chalk on the concrete at the property.

"The complainant believed that the author of the graffiti was the defendant because of their history of animosity. The complainant altered the graffiti to be offensive to the defendant," explained Ms Clarke.

Mr. Sousa therefore made a phone call to a man named Tyrone Lewis and left a message for Perinchief that he had altered the graffiti and should take a look.

Perinchief then called Matthew Sousa to lure him back to his cousin Kevin's house and lay in wait for him.

Ms Clarke said that when the victim arrived, he noticed Perinchief hiding flat against a wall - and Perinchief then used a three-pronged pitch fork to attack him.

"A struggle ensued and the complainant managed to free the pitch fork from the defendant. The defendant then continued his assault on the complainant with punches," said Ms Clarke.

"While the complainant was struggling he fell to the ground. While the complainant was still on the ground, the defendant repeatedly stabbed (him) with something sharp into his back."

Perinchief fled, leaving Mr. Sousa with nine stab wounds – seven to his back, one to his shoulder and one to the left side of his chest. His cousin called for help, with ambulance staff arriving to find him lying in a pool of blood on the ground.

Ms Clarke said that according to an emergency doctor who subsequently treated the victim at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the injuries were serious and potentially life-threatening.

Perinchief, of Dudley Hill, Paget, attended Hamilton Police Station after the attack, and was arrested. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding Mr. Sousa when he appeared at Supreme Court in May.

Ms Clarke told Puisne Justice Carlisle Greaves: "The complainant suffered nine stab wounds whilst he was on the ground in a defensive position....it is the Crown's humble submission that the defendant is to be wholly blamed for the wounds."

"The only known explanation for the incident was because of an ongoing rivalry between the defendant and the complainant. The defendant's reaction was not proportionate to any act by the complainant."

The judge meted out three years imprisonment followed by three years probation.

Perinchief pleaded guilty to firearms charges in May in relation to another incident on the same date, October 10 2007, when he illegally possessed an air rifle that was a replica AK47 assault rifle, a pipe slingshot and a commercially manufactured catapult.

A date for sentencing in that matter will be set when he returns to court on August 4.